1 November 2022
If you are covering HMRC’s latest Quarterly Stamp Duty Land Tax statistics, please see the following comment from Karen Noye, mortgage expert at Quilter:
“This morning’s quarterly stamp duty statistics show that the amount of the tax paid continues to rebound. The number of transactions paying stamp duty land tax were up 10% compared to Q2 2022. However, this remains 8% lower than in Q3 2021.
“The increase in transactions in the last quarter follows consecutive falls in the previous three quarters, which is largely as a result of the gradual slowdown in the number of house sales following the rampant housing market seen during the pandemic.
“One of the few policies from the mini-budget to remain in place was the stamp duty cut. Should this continue as expected, while the tax take from stamp duty could fall, it may also provide an incentive for people to move home in order to take advantage of the tax saving despite the economic backdrop. If this is the case, transactions may not see such a rapid fall and a real slowdown in the housing market may take longer than expected to materialise.
“Elsewhere, the 2% surcharge on the purchase of residential properties by non-residents continues to be lucrative for the government. The relatively new surcharge resulted in 3,100 transactions in Q3 2022, a 24% increase compared to Q2 2022 which saw 2,500 transactions. These figures illustrate that foreign investment in UK property continues to rebound. In Q3 alone, such transactions generated £39 million, up from £33 million in Q2. Foreign property investment has historically been considered damaging for communities if the properties are ultimately left empty, but at present this additional tax appears to be doing little to put off prospective investors.”
