Stamp duty holiday ends, replaced by New Buy Guarantee

The stamp duty holiday was introduced in 2010 to help first time buyers

The stamp duty holiday for first-time house buyers has ended, meaning they will join others in paying 1% tax on properties worth more than £125,000.

The government says it ended the holiday because it had been ineffective in helping people to buy.

It is introducing a New Buy Guarantee scheme instead, which it says will be better at getting people on to the housing ladder.

The stamp duty holiday was introduced in 2010.

It allowed first-time buyers to save up to £2,500 on the purchase of their first home by exempting them from stamp duty on homes worth up to £250,000.

Under the New Buy Guarantee, the government and major house builders will guarantee part of the loan from banks to first-time buyers.

This is intended to help those with smaller deposits to get on the housing ladder.

The government also announced a new 7% rate on homes over £2m last week.

And it further outlined a clampdown on stamp duty avoidance at the higher end of the market.