UK Stamp Duty - Knight Frank’s response and analysis of the figures released

Tom Bill, head of London residential research, said:

“Although the new stamp duty rules were only applicable for a quarter of the period in question, combined with a slowdown in activity that began after last summer as the general election campaign got underway and the prospect of a ‘mansion tax’ began to loom larger, there is a discernible impact on the prime central London market.”

“The stamp duty figures show the contribution to overall UK revenue of the top two local authorities in the country, Westminster and Kensington & Chelsea, declined last year. Indeed, the contribution of the top five London boroughs has fallen to 18.9% from 21.1% over the last two years. To some extent, this may be explained by a pick-up in sales in the rest of the country as stamp duty has fallen for properties worth  less than £1.1 million, which may have prompted more transactions.”

“However, the rate of growth for stamp duty revenue in Westminster and Kensington & Chelsea has slowed and remains below the UK average. Stamp duty revenues in Kensington & Chelsea grew by 1.6% in 2014/15 compared to 27.6% in 2013/14. In Westminster, revenues grew by 13.3% last year compared to 19.4% in the previous year. Meanwhile stamp duty revenues in the UK grew by 16.3% compared to 31.5% in 2013/14. The other top-contributing London boroughs also saw sharp falls in growth in 2014/15 that were below the UK average, as the table below shows.”

Courtesy: Knight Frank

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Jamie Obertelli - Residential Research PR Manager

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