Stamp duty is stifling the housing market

Economists have warned that stamp duty is a “distorting tax” that could be worsening Britain’s housing crisis by stifling activity. Kath Scanlon, deputy director at LSE London, says: “Economists are pretty much agreed that this is a bad tax and some kind of ongoing property tax is a much better tax. It used to be the case that the average buyer purchasing the average house would not be liable for stamp duty land tax anywhere … That is definitely not the case now.” The Treasury raised £14.1bn from stamp duty in 2021/22, the highest total on record. The typical property in Britain paid £2,100 in stamp duty before the pandemic but a property price boom has pushed the average up to £3,800. Sam Robinson, senior research fellow at think-tank Bright Blue, says: “We've been seeing quite a few properties pushed into new stamp duty brackets as a result of a rise in house prices”. 

The Sunday Telegraph (15/05/2022)