Staff reporter
Hongkongers looking for homes in the United Kingdom - one of their favored overseas destinations for property - will now have to fork out more for their purchases with two thresholds for stamp duty exemption reduced from April 1.
The proportion of first-time buyers of homes in England and Northern Ireland required to pay stamp duty has doubled from 21 to 42 percent following the changes, according to UK property portal Zoopla.
The website also estimates that the UK government is expected to collect an additional 1.1 billion (HK$11.02 billion) in annual stamp duty revenue.
The government has withdrawn stamp duty relief for most homebuyers, leading to increased purchase costs, particularly for first-time buyers.
The threshold for stamp duty exemption has been halved from 250,000 to 125,000 while the threshold for first-time buyers has fallen from 425,000 to 300,000.
In addition, Sky News data revealed that nearly 75 percent of councils in England will introduce a discretionary charge in April, doubling the council tax on second homes.
Meanwhile, in Hong Kong, the city's 10 major housing estates saw six deals over the weekend, 57 percent lower from a week earlier, while six estates recorded no transactions, Centaline Property said.
Louis Chan Wing-kit, Asia Pacific vice chairman of the residential division at Centaline, said sales were dampened by the strong primary market as well the exodus of travelers over the Ching Ming Festival holiday weekend.
In the primary market, In One Above phase 1A in Ho Man Tin, developed by Chinachem and MTR Corporation (0066), sold 61 out of 69 flats offered yesterday, cashing in over HK$580 million. One buyer snapped up four one-bedroom units for HK$29.36 million.
Chinachem plans to launch 35 more flats for sale on Thursday, at discounted prices starting from HK$19,909 per square foot.
The In One series has so far sold 533 flats worth more than HK$8.6 billion in total.
