Is there anything I can do to save paying stamp duty?

Yes possibly. If the purchase price is just above the stamp duty band limits (£120,000, £250,000 and £500,000) and the sale includes some fixtures and fittings eg. carpets, curtains, cooker, fridge, freezer etc, you may be able to amend the contract to legitimately apportion part of the total price towards the fixtures, reducing the amount being paid for the property itself. The stamp duty is payable only on the part of the price agreed for the property. For example – If the agreed sale price is £258,000.00 and there are no fixtures the stamp duty payable will be £7,740, but if there are fixtures worth £9,000.00 the duty is only £2,490 because up to £250,000.00 the level of stamp duty is only 1% but above £250,000.00 it is 3%. If you want to “split” the price in this way you must remember to tell your solicitor before exchange of contracts. The portion of the overall price allocated to fixtures must of course fairly reflect their true value.