• Leading UK mortgage lender Santander has reported a 130% increase in mortgage applications between Q4 2023 and Q4 2024 as buyers rush to capitalise on stamp duty savings
• In the South East, where the average house price is £385,600, first-time buyers could save up to £4,280 in stamp duty by purchasing before 1 April1
• In London, where property prices are highest at £535,700, the potential saving rises to £11,2501
Santander UK has reported it saw a 130% increase in mortgage applications in Q4 2024 compared to Q4 2023, as buyers rush to secure a property purchase during the Government’s stamp duty holiday.
With Santander estimating the average property purchase taking four months from mortgage offer to completion, buyers securing a mortgage offer before the end of 2024 will have maximised their chances of benefitting from lower stamp duty costs, ahead of the 1 April 2025 deadline.
From 1 April, the stamp duty nil-rate threshold for first-time buyers will drop from £425,000 to £300,000, while for other buyer types it falls from £250,000 to £125,000.
As a result, a first-time buyer purchasing a home priced between £300,000 and £500,000 will face a 5% stamp duty charge on an additional £125,000 of borrowing, adding thousands of pounds to the overall cost. All other buyer types will pay 2% on the amount between £125,000 and £250,000 – a potential extra cost of up to £2,500.
Graham Sellar, Head of Intermediary Channel – Mortgages, at Santander, said: “We all know that buying a home – whether it’s our first or our forever home – comes with significant costs. Every penny counts when considering things like legals and removals costs, so it’s great to see so many people make the most of the holiday and secure their new home ahead of 1 April.”
First-time buyer impact
First-time buyers are set to see the biggest increase in potential costs as a result of the changes to stamp duty. In the South East, where the average house price is £385,600, first-time buyers could save up to £4,280 in stamp duty by purchasing before 1 April. After the change, if they are buying a property over £500,000, they will be faced with the same stamp duty costs as a next-time buyer, for example in London, where prices average £535,700, this would add a potential extra cost of £11,250.
| Location and ave. property price | Stamp duty before 1 April 2025 | Stamp duty after 1 April 2025 |
| South-East - £385,600 | Nil | £4,280 |
| London - £535,700 | £5,535 | £16,785 |
Recent research by the bank2 reveals that first-time buyers are increasingly compromising on location to fulfil their dream of owning a home. Two-thirds (67%) of Brits who bought their first home in the last two years had never seen their new neighbourhood before buying, compared to just over half (51%) of those who bought more than five years ago. According to the research, first-time buyers moving to new neighbourhoods in the last two years saved an average of £29,000 compared to buying a house in the area they lived in before.
Areas like Waverley in the South-East and Waltham Forest in Greater London have experienced the greatest rise in first-time buyer sales over the past decade, highlighting sustained demand in these regions3.
Once buyers have secured their new home, Santander’s My Home Manager tool can help them keep on top of the cost of running a home, from finding removal companies, to comparing TV and broadband deals, and switching energy providers.
-Ends-
The information contained in our press releases is intended solely for journalists and should not be used by consumers to make financial decisions.
Notes to editors:
1. Zoopla, 2024: House prices set to rise 1.5% by end of 2024
2. Two-thirds of recent first-time buyers bought in a neighbourhood they had never been to before | Santander UK - Survey of 2,000 first-time buyers, conducted by Opinium for Santander UK in May 2024.
- Based on Santander mortgage customer data 2019-2023.
3. Where are the top rising neighbourhoods for first-time buyers across the UK? | Santander UK - Top rising neighbourhoods established using ONS data on the House Price Index between 2013-2023 to estimate the number of first-time buyer sales in each local authority across the UK.
Santander UK is a financial services provider in the UK that offers a wide range of personal and commercial financial products and services. At 31 December 2024, the bank had around 18,000 employees and serves around 14 million active customers, including 7 million digital customers via a
nationwide 444 branch network, telephone, mobile and online banking. Santander UK is subject to the full supervision of the FCA and the PRA in the UK. Santander UK plc customers’ eligible deposits are protected by the FSCS in the UK.
Banco Santander (SAN SM, STD US, BNC.LN) is a leading commercial bank, founded in 1857 and headquartered in Spain and one of the largest banks in the world by market capitalization. The group’s activities are consolidated into five global businesses: Retail & Commercial Banking, Digital Consumer
Bank, Corporate & Investment Banking (CIB), Wealth Management & Insurance and Payments (PagoNxt and Cards). This operating model allows the bank to better leverage its unique combination of global scale and local leadership. Banco Santander aims to be the best open financial services
platform providing services to individuals, SMEs, corporates, financial institutions and governments. The bank’s purpose is to help people and businesses prosper in a simple, personal and fair way.