Own

Property, equity, and the difference between owning something and it owning you.

3 sourced figuresnext checked 1 March 2027Writing held

Property is the largest single component of household wealth in Britain, and the one people are least precise about. The number that matters is equity, not the value; the cost of holding is not the mortgage payment; and the tax on buying is a step function that can turn a small change in price into a large change in bill.

What this is not

We do not forecast house prices, and nothing here is a view on whether to buy.

The figures underneath

What this subject rests on

Stamp duty on a home you will own outright, England and Northern Ireland.

Nil to £125,000, 2% to £250,000, 5% to £925,000, 10% to £1.5m, then 12%

GOV.UK, Stamp Duty Land Tax residential rates · Current rates · checked again by 2027-03-01

Scotland and Wales charge their own taxes instead.

First-time buyer stamp duty relief.

Nothing up to £300,000, 5% from £300,001 to £500,000, and no relief at all above £500,000

GOV.UK, Stamp Duty Land Tax residential rates · Current rates · checked again by 2027-03-01

A cliff: one pound over £500,000 and the whole relief goes.

The surcharge on an additional residential property.

5% on top of the standard rates

GOV.UK, Stamp Duty Land Tax residential rates · Current rates · checked again by 2027-03-01

Written so far

Writing held

The 3 figures above are registered, sourced and dated, and this subject’s boundary is set. The writing follows — and nothing ships without a named reviewer, so we publish fewer than two dozen pieces a year on purpose.

The Swealth letter

One letter a week, on Thursday

Plain writing about British money, and the UK Wealth Blueprint to start with.