According to new figures from HMRC, stamp duty has bolstered the Government’s coffers by £2.14 billion – an increase of 33% since the levy on homes worth more than £925,000 was raised in 2014.
Subject to a number of increases in recent years, the current stamp duty policy was designed to make the residential property market fairer for first time buyers and has since provided the impetus for an unexpected boost for investors looking for a bargain.
Estate agents, Savills, noted that the number of homes for sale above £1 million that have dropped their asking prices has nearly doubled this year. Discounts of up to 50% are becoming more frequent at the top end of the housing market as owners reduce their asking prices by thousands of pounds.
Unsurprisingly London is at the forefront of this trend due to the higher average cost of housing in the capital where £1 million will often not extend further than a two or three bedroom apartment in many parts of the city.
And where London leads, the increasingly popular South East commuter belt is not slow to follow with the ripple effects already being felt according to local real estate agents.
Sources:
HMRC: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/monthly-property-transactions-completed-in-the-uk-with-value-40000-or-above
Savills: http://www.savills.co.uk/blog/article/220580/residential-property/how-much-home-does-1-million-buy-you-in-london.aspx
