What does Stamp Duty (housing) mean?

Stamp Duty land tax is payable for almost all cases where land transaction is involved, like residential transactions of any kind. You have to keep in mind, that even if you enter in a shared equity or a shared ownership purchase scheme, stamp duty land tax is required. Only after you have paid the tax, you enter in the possession of a document with the help of which you will be able to register ownership at the land register.

According to the HM Revenue&Customs website, taxes for residential land or property are as follows: you pay nothing if your purchase does not exceed £175,000 which is the threshold; there is 1% payable taxes if your purchase’s value is between £175,000 - £250,000; you pay 3% taxes if the purchase values between £250,000 and £500,000, while in the lucky case you own a home which’s value exceeds £500,000, the stamp duty land tax is of 4%.