Robinson added: "Those transacting at the very top-end are far better placed to stomach these costs and so a stamp duty saving hasn’t been a driving factor with regard to transacting, nor has it caused the mad panic to complete that we’ve seen across the regular market."
Moreover, foreign buyers are not going to benefit from the SDLT extension - and there is an additional 2 per cent added for non-domestic buyers.
As a result, foreign buyers will now see the stamp duty owed increase by £95,000 as of April 1st, increasing from £378,750 to £473,750 on an initial purchase and £498,750 to £593,750 on a secondary property.
Robinson added: "Of course, the introduction of a further two per cent stamp duty penalty for foreign buyers won’t do much to help this returning health, with high-end homebuyers from outside of the UK looking at an average cost of half a million pounds owed in stamp duty alone as of April.
"That said, a prime London home remains one of the must-haves on any notable international property portfolio and so this increase will be viewed as a small price to pay for the serious investor.”
simoney.kyriakou@ft.com
