The end of the stamp duty land tax (SDLT) holiday on 30 June for the £250,000 to £500,000 price banding caused a substantial rise in the number of transactions completed in June as purchasers tried to complete to avoid paying additional stamp duty
The total SDLT raised over the last quarter hit £2.8bn with transactions buoyant despite a hike in property prices as property sales totalled 198,240 in June 2021 alone, according to the latest HMRC figures. This marks a 219% increase on property sales compared with the midst of the first lockdown last June when property sales went into freefall.
In addition, the Exchequer benefited from a surge in revenue from the 2% surcharge on the purchase of properties by non-residents which was introduced on 1 April. To date this has resulted in 2,700 transactions paying £19m in stamp duty, paid by buyers based overseas.
Residential property transactions in Q2 2021 were 9% higher than in Q1 2021, and 175% higher than in Q2 2020 (the quarter before the SDLT holiday was introduced).
