Landlords pay towards record Stamp Duty windfall for government

Stamp Duty paid between April and August 2022 was up 29 per cent on the same period last year according to new data.

This is due to the lingering effects of the pandemic stamp duty holiday which ended in September 2021.

Helen Morrissey, an analyst at business consultancy Hargreaves Lansdown, says: “Stamp duty receipts continue to surge, topping a whopping £8.9 billion between April and August this year. This is not only a sign of a housing market in rude health but also down to the lingering after-effects of the stamp duty holiday, which ended in September last year. 

“Whether we continue to see such steep increases in stamp duty over the coming months remains to be seen as the effects of this holiday are stripped out of the figures and soaring interest rates and cost of living crunch put a dampener on our plans to buy that dream home. 

“There are also growing signs that homes are taking longer to sell which could also mean more would-be sellers are putting off the decision to put their homes on the market – this means we could soon see fewer sales feeding into lower receipts in the coming months.”

However, speculation continues to grow that stamp duty may be one of the taxes to be cut in the first Budget of new Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng, who will reveal its contents tomorrow.

The Times - in which a well-informed leak of the Budget has appeared - says Truss believes another stamp duty cut will encourage economic growth by enabling first-time buyers in particular to get on the property ladder.

Tom Bill, head of UK residential research at Knight Frank, says: “Nobody can accuse the new government of lacking an economic vision. If its low-tax approach extends to stamp duty, recent history tells us it will trigger higher levels of demand in the housing market at a time when mortgages are getting more expensive, which will support social mobility.

“Prices could spike higher in the short term if supply initially struggles to keep up but more balanced conditions will return provided the cut is immediate and permanent.”

Currently no stamp duty is paid on the first £125,000 of any property purchase. 

Between £125,001 and £250,000 Stamp Duty is levied at 2.0 per cent; between £250,001 and £925,000 at 5.0 per cent; between £925,001 and £1.5m at 10 per cent; and above £1.5m at 12 per cent. First-time buyers do not pay SDLT if their property is below £300,000.

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