Stamp duty is one of the main costs that you have to budget for when buying a house. But have you ever wondered what amount you might have to pay for some of England’s most iconic properties?
Well, wonder no more. Online conveyancer My Home Move Conveyancing has crunched the numbers to find out how much you would have to pay if you were to put in an offer on some of the country’s most recognisable buildings.
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What is stamp duty anyway?
It is a tax you have to pay when you buy a property or land over a certain value in England or Northern Ireland. The amount of tax charged typically depends on the purchase price of the property. There are also price thresholds that dictate how much you will pay. First time buyers typically have a higher threshold.
You can use the government’s calculator to determine how much stamp duty you would pay on a property.
From 8 July 2020 until 30 June 2020, there was a stamp duty holiday. Buyers only paid stamp duty when the purchase price of a property exceeded £500,000.
On 1 July 2021, the threshold dropped to £250,000 until 30 September 2021. From 1 October, it will revert to the standard rate of £125,000.
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What is the estimated stamp duty on some of England’s most iconic properties?
A new study from My Home Move Conveyancing has revealed the estimated stamp duty costs of some of England’s most iconic properties.
According to the study, Buckingham Palace – possibly the country’s most iconic property – tops the list with estimated tax costs of a staggering £156 million! Windsor Castle comes in second place with an estimated cost of £114 million.
The two are not the only dwellings with a high stamp duty price, however. The study shows that a prospective buyer of Highclere Castle, the filming location of popular TV show Downton Abbey, would have to pay £16 million in stamp duty.
And if it’s Blenheim Palace you have your eyes on, be prepared to part with £22 million. Meanwhile, Kensington Palace would cost you £18 million while the Tower of London would cost you £7 million.
Not all of the iconic properties attract high stamp duty costs, however. Take Harry Potter’s 4 Privet House in Berkshire, for example. The iconic building would only set you back a reasonable £11,250 in stamp duty.
And if you were to move into the Barlow home, located on 1 Coronation Street, and one of the soap’s most recognisable properties, you wouldn’t have to pay any stamp duty right now.
According to Dev Malle, Chief Business Development Officer at My Home Move Conveyancing, there are also many other properties across the country, including locations featured in the nation’s favourite TV shows and films, with slightly more affordable figures.
You can find the estimated stamp duty costs of other iconic properties in England on My Home Move Conveyancing’s website.
What can the average buyer expect to pay on the average property?
It goes without saying that most of us will never be in a position to buy the country’s most iconic homes. It’s also likely that the majority of these homes will not be on the market any time soon. Still, it’s fascinating to look at what they would cost in terms of stamp duty.
Malle says buyers should not be put off by the astronomically high stamp duty rates on some of these iconic properties, however. The average home is likely to cost you a lot less in stamp duty.
“Although these figures may seem incredibly high, we’d like to reassure future homeowners; with the average purchase price of £275,000 for a home in England, the stamp duty charge would be significantly less than the iconic properties, coming in at £1,250,” Malle says.
