The chancellor has announced a cut to Stamp Duty Land Tax in England and Northern Ireland.

The cut raises the threshold of how much a property costs before stamp duty is paid to £250,000 (from £125,000)

First time buyers will pay no stamp duty on the first £425,000 (raised from £300,000) 

The value of the property on which a first time buyer can claim stamp duty relief will raise to £625,000 (from £500,000)

There are no changes to the additional homes stamp duty charges.

All these are permanent cuts to stamp duty, which are effective from today.