The stamp duty holiday has helped bring housing transactions to the highest level since the financial crisis in 2007, the Centre for Policy Studies (CPS) has found.
In its report, published on 20 February CPS looked at the impacts of the measure introduced by the government to support the property market in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. It found that after an initial sharp decline between April-June 2020, the number of transactions increased from 132,090 in Q2 to 225,870 in Q3 and 316,300 by the end of Q4 – the highest level since before the global financial crisis in 2007-8.
The stamp duty holiday is due to end on 31 March. But CPS is calling on the government to either permanently increase the threshold on primary residences to £500,000 or abolish the tax outright as a means to help homeowners, and the economy, adjust to the changes brought about by the pandemic.
