Stamp duty revenues soar

The average homeowner pays £9,600 as they progress up the housing ladder, according to new data from Lloyds Bank. This is based on people who bought their first home in 1999, their second in 2007 and another this year.

Increases

Research from the firms report reveals that stamp duty revenues have increased significantly during the last 12 months, with homebuyers paying £7.7bn in this tax. A rise of £1.5bn in stamp duty revenues was down to a mix of higher house prices and a rise in the level of property transactions, according to the Bank.

This figure easily beats the £6.2bn recorded during the year to March 2008, at the peak of the housing boom before the recession. In addition, the number of first-time buyers paying stamp duty has more than doubled in the last 16 years, from 32% in 1999 to 66% in 2015.[1]

Regional duties

In the capital, 90% of first-time buyers are liable for the tax when they get onto the first rung of the property ladder. It comes as no surprise then that buyers in London have the highest lifetime stamp duty bills, which average out at £38,600. This is followed by the South East, where buyers pay an average of £22,800.[2]

Stamp duty revenues soar

At the lower end of the scale, people in Wales pay an average stamp duty tax total of just £3,800, with those in the North and East Midlands paying £4,000.[3]

Nitesh Patel, housing economist at Lloyds Bank, suggests that, ‘the average homebuyer now pays almost £10,000 during their life as they make their way up the housing ladder.’ She feels that, ‘the welcome reforms to stamp duty announced by the Chancellor last December have helped to reduce stamp duty bills for the overwhelming majority of homebuyers and movers.’[4]

‘However, as these figures show, the overall revenue raised with stamp duty actually increased by £1.5bn in the year to March 2015,’ she added.[5]

[1] http://www.zoopla.co.uk/discover/property-news/buyers-pay-7-7bn-in-stamp-duty/#r4q05lkXHTsDHxvo.97