As part of the Autumn budget, the way that stamp duty is calculated on residential property transactions has changed- effective from the end of the day.

The result of the new rules is that:

– homes purchases over £1.25m and £937,500- £1.0m will pay more stamp duty

– other homes will pay less stamp duty (or the same)

– the impact of the stamp duty thresholds will be significantly reduced as stamp duty will now be calculated on a marginal basis rather than applying a single rate on the entire property price.

For those properties where the purchase has already exchanged by the end of 3 December 2014 but have not yet completed, the buyer will have the opportunity to pick between the old and the new rates. It would appear that this will apply to off plan purchases where exchange of contracts has already taken place- it is unclear what will happen where the contract is assigned at a later date.

This is the link to the HM Treasury fact sheet: Fact Sheet