Almost a quarter of first-time buyers say stamp duty is a personal barrier to buying, Yorkshire Building Society finds

Yorkshire Building Society research found 23% of first-time buyers regard stamp duty as a personal barrier to buying, rising to 31% of second-steppers. The tax lands as an upfront cash cost at the point buyers are already stretched on deposit and fees, so it tends to delay moves rather than change what people will pay. For sellers in the second-stepper bracket, a thinner pool of onward buyers is the practical effect. This is survey sentiment ahead of the Autumn Budget, not a policy change.