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Home Press releasesBuyingStamp duty holiday has already saved homebuyers £108m as 85% pay no tax on their purchase

Stamp duty holiday has already saved homebuyers £108m as 85% pay no tax on their purchase

Tax-Savings

The latest research from lettings and estate agent, Benham and Reeves, has revealed the huge number of homebuyers that have already benefited from the current stamp duty saving and the money they’ve saved.

Benham and Reeves analysed sold price records across England from the Land Registry between the launch of the stamp duty holiday on 8th July and August 31st (latest available data).

The research shows that there have been some 20,238 transactions since the holiday was launched with a sold value of £6.7bn.

As many as 85% of these transactions have fallen below the £500,000 price threshold and paid no stamp duty as a result.

The resulting saving for homebuyers at all price thresholds of the market has been considerable. In regular market conditions, £189m would have been paid in stamp duty. With the holiday in place, this has fallen to £80.8m, a total of saving of £108,126,686 in just two months.

Southampton, Plymouth, Sheffield, Newcastle and Nottingham have been amongst some of the major cities to see the biggest benefit for homebuyers. 98% of all transactions in these cities since the stamp duty holiday was implemented have been at £500,000 or below; with no stamp duty paid as a result.

In fact, the other more affordable major cities have seen between 84% and 97% of transactions pay no stamp duty.

Oxford and Cambridge have seen 59% and 52% of transactions pay no stamp duty.

London is home to the lowest number of stamp duty exempt transitions as a percentage of all transactions at 48%. However, the capital has seen homebuyers save the most by far. Since the stamp duty holiday started, London homebuyers have saved nearly £25.2m alone.

Wandsworth is the London borough with the biggest saving to date, with homeowners saving £1.7m in stamp duty. Bromley (£1.5m), Croydon (£1.2m), Barnet (£1.1m) and Richmond (£1m) have also seen the stamp duty saving exceed £1m.

In terms of the most stamp duty-free property purchases, Barking and Dagenham ranks top with 100% of transactions falling within the holiday threshold. Newham (83%) and Bexley (75%) have also seen a considerable amount of transactions complete without stamp duty owed.

Director of Benham and Reeves, Marc von Grundherr, commented:

“Given the fact that the holiday has only been in place for a few short months, the money saved by homebuyers as a result is quite astounding.

Of course, it has caused demand to go through the roof and so you could argue that in ‘regular’ market conditions the saving wouldn’t be quite as considerable.

However, it has helped the housing market bounce back from pandemic uncertainty at an alarming rate, helping to avoid a property price crash, while benefiting thousands of homebuyers in the process.

It will be interesting to see the final scores on the doors once the holiday ends but at this rate, the money saved is going to be huge.

You could argue that the tax should be abolished completely as it’s nothing more than an archaic money grab from the Government, to the detriment of those who are already stretching to afford the most expensive purchase in life. Based on these figures, you wouldn’t be the only one and it does highlight just how much is paid to the Government via stamp duty tax.”

Tables show the number of total transactions since the stamp duty holiday started, the number that were exempt from paying stamp duty and the total saving the holiday has brought across all price bands of the market.

Major UK Cities All transactions count (since 8th July) All transactions value (since 8th July) Stamp duty exempt transactions Exempt transactions value Stamp duty exempt trans as % of all trans Stamp duty owed prior to the holiday Stamp duty paid due to the holiday Total stamp duty saving
London 2,115 £1,505,392,043 1,017 £374,405,502 48% £73,163,850 £47,965,688 £25,198,161
Bournemouth 228 £84,364,686 191 £54,089,853 84% £2,327,777 £830,742 £1,497,036
Bristol 167 £56,891,791 148 £42,265,291 89% £1,305,626 £313,575 £992,051
Birmingham 314 £71,345,719 300 £61,023,719 96% £1,062,615 £188,600 £874,015
Leeds 258 £63,468,739 241 £50,669,294 93% £1,145,336 £271,722 £873,614
Oxford 39 £22,865,260 23 £8,733,100 59% £891,713 £444,608 £447,105
Manchester 138 £31,119,926 132 £27,028,425 96% £453,444 £54,575 £398,869
Plymouth 127 £27,420,475 125 £26,282,975 98% £328,665 £6,875 £321,790
Portsmouth 68 £17,993,320 64 £15,247,820 94% £306,974 £42,525 £264,449
Sheffield 124 £24,302,129 122 £22,779,129 98% £285,701 £26,150 £259,551
Cambridge 21 £12,161,333 11 £4,069,500 52% £425,983 £181,008 £244,975
Southampton 66 £16,584,290 65 £15,959,290 98% £249,970 £6,250 £243,720
Liverpool 113 £20,238,505 109 £17,808,510 96% £252,780 £21,500 £231,280
Newcastle 98 £19,385,275 96 £17,800,275 98% £228,852 £29,250 £199,602
Leicester 59 £13,182,500 57 £11,939,500 97% £169,990 £12,150 £157,840
Nottingham 84 £15,354,012 82 £14,219,012 98% £150,975 £6,750 £144,225
ENGLAND overall 20,238 £6,741,384,354 17,254 £4,161,766,995 85% £188,942,507 £80,815,821 £108,126,686
Major UK Cities All transactions count (since 8th July) All transactions value (since 8th July) Stamp duty exempt transactions count up to £500k Stamp duty exempt transactions value Stamp duty exempt trans as % of all trans Stamp duty owed prior to the holiday Stamp duty paid due to the holiday Total stamp duty saving
Wandsworth 123 £129,429,019 23 £8,485,200 19% £7,483,286 £5,781,207 £1,702,079
Bromley 131 £76,302,315 68 £25,768,570 52% £2,850,216 £1,288,187 £1,562,029
Croydon 117 £52,578,913 80 £28,804,673 68% £1,499,799 £284,837 £1,214,962
Barnet 88 £72,022,150 28 £10,711,400 32% £3,823,290 £2,660,300 £1,162,990
Richmond upon Thames 80 £76,850,801 24 £9,335,500 30% £4,266,163 £3,198,788 £1,067,375
Havering 90 £40,605,300 65 £24,125,000 72% £1,161,090 £225,265 £935,825
Merton 78 £57,812,005 40 £14,979,750 51% £2,924,548 £2,002,313 £922,235
Hillingdon 83 £40,015,000 51 £18,333,000 61% £1,190,670 £295,350 £895,320
Waltham Forest 74 £37,790,450 38 £14,438,000 51% £1,155,538 £267,623 £887,915
Lewisham 86 £43,614,794 56 £19,674,294 65% £1,503,302 £617,700 £885,602
Lambeth 69 £45,916,750 31 £12,507,250 45% £1,790,838 £905,475 £885,363
Bexley 92 £38,068,000 69 £23,765,000 75% £1,009,325 £151,000 £858,325
Kingston upon Thames 68 £45,674,769 27 £10,147,950 40% £1,816,363 £958,536 £857,828
Southwark 56 £41,594,350 23 £9,436,350 41% £1,887,908 £1,149,440 £738,468
Hammersmith and Fulham 52 £59,344,549 9 £3,423,600 17% £3,726,972 £2,999,292 £727,680
Kensington and Chelsea 49 £121,634,320 2 £760,000 4% £10,919,595 £10,196,595 £723,000
Camden 50 £56,586,750 7 £2,717,000 14% £3,374,845 £2,663,995 £710,850
Enfield 66 £36,109,750 42 £14,690,749 64% £1,389,200 £701,650 £687,550
Ealing 59 £38,956,400 32 £11,544,450 54% £1,707,470 £1,043,898 £663,573
Sutton 67 £31,300,300 44 £14,768,800 66% £950,927 £288,325 £662,602
Haringey 52 £30,735,244 24 £9,204,648 46% £1,094,113 £448,980 £645,133
Westminster 44 £66,476,757 5 £2,103,757 11% £5,052,938 £4,412,750 £640,188
Harrow 49 £30,472,712 18 £6,875,212 37% £1,123,411 £490,900 £632,511
Hounslow 54 £35,034,500 28 £10,159,500 52% £1,599,315 £971,170 £628,145
Greenwich 55 £31,738,168 30 £10,452,900 55% £1,256,935 £650,502 £606,434
Islington 41 £34,488,700 9 £3,910,000 22% £1,675,550 £1,090,050 £585,500
Redbridge 55 £25,006,500 33 £11,496,000 60% £712,235 £130,025 £582,210
Brent 47 £33,070,860 23 £8,440,450 49% £1,498,994 £943,971 £555,023
Tower Hamlets 46 £24,927,300 27 £10,645,000 59% £828,115 £280,865 £547,250
Hackney 39 £27,661,450 17 £6,975,000 44% £1,212,568 £703,818 £508,750
Newham 29 £12,106,167 24 £9,229,499 83% £317,318 £18,833 £298,485
Barking and Dagenham 20 £6,497,000 20 £6,497,000 100% £126,965 £0 £126,965
City of London 6 £4,970,000 0 £0 0% £234,050 £144,050 £90,000
London overall 2115 £1,505,392,043 1017 £374,405,502 48% £73,163,850 £47,965,688 £25,198,161
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About the Author

Established in 1958, Benham and Reeves is one of London’s oldest, independently owned property lettings and sales agents. With specialism in residential sales, corporate lettings and property management in prime areas of London, the company operates from 19 prominently located branches and 11 international offices.

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