A league table has been drawn up of the areas of England which are home to the most first-time buyer friendly markets.

This is against the landscape that from April first time buyers will face a reduced stamp duty relief threshold of £300,000, with one positive insight being that in some regions of the country, as many as 85% of homes will still be available tax-free.

During last week’s Budget the government decided not to extend the temporary ‘holiday’ reducing the stamp duty threshold for first-time buyers from its current level of £425,000 down to £300,000 from April 2025. 

Online agency Yopa has analysed sold price records from the Land Registry, looking at annual transaction levels across England and where is home to the highest number at or below the £300,000 mark.

The data reveals that on an annual basis, an estimated total of 613,084 property purchases took place across England. Of these, an estimated 323,680 were bought for less than £300,000, equivalent to 52.8% of all transactions.

In some regions of the country, however, a far greater proportion of homes sold for less than £300,000.

At the top of that list is the North East region where last year saw 85% of properties sold for less than £300,000.

Other regions include Yorkshire & Humber (77.5%), the North West (75.9%), East Midlands (70%), and West Midlands (68.5%).

The availability of SDLT-free homes gets even better when analysing price paid data on a local authority district level. And once again, it’s the North of England that offers the widest choice with some districts seeing almost all homes sold below the incoming lower threshold.

In the city of Hull, 97.8% of residential purchases were made for less than £300,000, followed by Blackpool (97.3%), and Hyndburn (96.9%).

The other districts where more than 90% of sales come in at under £300,000 are Stoke-on-Trent (94.9%), Burnley (94.4%), Middlesbrough (92.6%), North East Lincolnshire (91.9%), Redcar & Cleveland (91.6%), County Durham (91.3%), Sunderland (90.8%), and Blackburn with Darwen (90.3%).

However, first-time buyers in London are facing the toughest search for a tax-free home from April, as there are no less than 17 boroughs where less than 10% of 2023 transactions fell under £300,000, including but not limited to Kensington & Chelsea (2.1%), Hackney (6.2%), and Southwark (8.3%).