Home sales hit record high in ‘frenetic’ race to beat stamp duty deadline Business News

Home sales hit a record high in June amid a “frenzied rush” to beat the stamp duty deadline.

An estimated 213,120 sales took place in June, according to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) – the highest monthly total in the UK since statistics were introduced in April 2005.

The figure was 216.1% higher than in June 2020 and 108.5% higher than in May 2021.

Some 428,620 home sales took place in the second quarter of this year – the highest quarterly figure since the third quarter of 2007 and the highest total for the second quarter of any year on HMRC records.

In England and Northern Ireland, buyers rushed to close the deals before the temporarily increased range from ‘zero rate’ to £ 500,000 for Residential Stamp Duty (SDLT) property tax ended on the 30th. June.

The temporarily increased zero-rate range is now reduced to £ 250,000 until September 30, meaning current buyers still have the option of tax savings. From October it will return to normal levels.

The report says the June figures “captured the important impacts of preventing taxpayer activities” – that is, when steps are taken to prevent a planned event.

The move was also seen in Wales as taxpayers sought to close deals before the zero-rate band temporarily increased to £ 250,000 for the residential land transactions tax ended on June 30, a t -he adds.

On a seasonally adjusted basis, the tax administration estimated that 198,240 homes were sold in June, 219.1% more than in June 2020 and 74.1% more than in May 2021.

Seasonally adjusted figures exclude variations associated with particular periods of the year.

June is a historically high month for transactions as they increase during the summer, which likely also contributed to the very high numbers in June 2021, HMRC said.

He also warned that estimates for the last month are based on incomplete data, as not all tax returns for transactions completed during that month will have been received.