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Stamp duty cut will end in 2025 Jeremy Hunt reveals in Autumn statement

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak congratulates Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt after he delivered his autumn statement to MPs in the House of Commons, London. Picture date: Thursday November 17, 2022. (Photo by House of Commons/PA Images via Getty Images)
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak congratulates Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt after he delivered his autumn statement to MPs in the House of Commons, London. Photo by House of Commons/PA/Getty (House of Commons - PA Images via Getty Images)

The Stamp Duty cut will end in 2025, Jeremy Hunt has announced in the UK's Autumn statement.

The new Chancellor of the Exchequer revealed the change to housing tax on Thursday.

The Chancellor told the Commons: “The Office of Budget Responsibility, OBR, expects housing activity to slow over the next two years, so the stamp duty cuts announced in the mini-budget will remain in place but only until March 31 2025.

“After that, I will sunset the measure, creating an incentive to support the housing market and all the jobs associated with it by boosting transactions during the period the economy most needs it.”

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The Chancellor's move reinforces his statement made weeks ago that a previous cut to stamp duty would remain in place.

However, this time buyers have been given a deadline for the end of the period for which they will pay less, or no, stamp duty.

Richard Campo, founder of broker firm, Rose Capital Partners has reservations about the new Chancellor putting a deadline for the end of the Stamp Duty cut.

Read more: FTSE 100 in the red as markets await Jeremy Hunt’s Autumn statement

Campo said: “Putting a deadline on the Stamp Duty changes is a really bad idea.

"The only good thing that came of the infamous mini-budget was that the stamp duty allowance wasn’t time limited.

"What always happens when you create a deadline? It creates a rush to hit the deadline which pushes up prices artificially, and also, what comes next? Going back to the current scheme or not? That wasn’t mentioned so the devil will be in the detail here.”

Before the cut, no stamp duty was paid on the first £125,000 of any property purchase, but under former prime minister Liz Truss' Government mini-budget, the stamp duty relief was doubled.

It currently only applies to properties that cost over £250,000.

Watch: Watch live: Chancellor delivers his autumn statement

Speaking about the effect of the end of Stamp Duty for already stretched homebuyers, director of Estate Agent Benham and Reeves, Marc von Grundherr, said: "Homebuyers have been stretched to breaking point in recent weeks, not only by the rising cost of living but also due to increasing mortgage costs.

"So they may well feel that they’ve been shown the cold shoulder today with the absence of any meaningful initiative designed to help stimulate the UK property market.

"Even more so given that the previous reprieve offered in the way of a stamp duty cut will now only run until the end of March 2025."

"It’s a risky strategy and one that confirms that the Conservatives are no longer the party of the UK homeowner, which is sure to lose them votes further down the line.”

In Thursday's Budget, the Chancellor has made an attempt to get the UK's economy back onto a more stable footing.

His predecessor, Kwasi Kwarteng, announced a mini-Budget in October that sent the pound (GBP-USD=X) plummeting after financial markets reacted negatively to a range of unfunded tax cuts.

According to the OBR, the Government's Autumn Budget could temper recession in the UK, before consolidation stabilises public debt.

The OBR released a statement that said: "Over £100 billion of additional fiscal support over the next two years cushions the blow of higher energy prices, but the economy still falls into recession and living standards fall 7% over two years, wiping out eight years’ growth.

"Over the medium term, around £40bn in tax rises and spending cuts, in roughly equal measure, offsets higher debt interest and welfare costs and gets debt falling as a share of GDP.

"But at 99% of GDP at the forecast horizon, debt is roughly £400 billion higher than forecast in March and interest costs close to historic highs."

You must pay Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) if you buy a property or land over a certain price in England and Northern Ireland.

In Wales the payment is called Land Transaction Tax, and in Scotland buyers must pay a Land and Buildings Transaction Tax.

Watch: Autumn Budget: stamp duty cuts to be in place until March 2025 says Jeremy Hunt