As many as 85% of property transactions between the announcement of the stamp duty holiday on 8 July up until 31 August have fallen below the £500,000 price threshold and paid no stamp duty as a result.

According to new research from Benham and Reeves, there were 20,238 transactions between Rishi Sunak’s announcement in July and the end of August.

The lettings and estate agent revealed that the total sold value for homes in that time reached £6.7bn.

In regular market conditions, the research suggested that £189m would have been paid in stamp duty although with the holiday in place, this has fallen to £80.8m – a total of saving of £108,126,686 in two months.

Based on the current average saving, Benham and Reeves estimated that the total saved come March could reach £524.9m over the 267-day holiday.

Southampton, Plymouth, Sheffield, Newcastle and Nottingham have been amongst some of the major cities to see the biggest benefit for homebuyers, with 98% of all transactions in these cities since the holiday was implemented being at £500,000 or below.

London has been home to the lowest number of stamp duty exempt transitions as a percentage of all transactions, at 48%. Since the stamp duty holiday started, however, London homebuyers have saved nearly £25.2m alone – the most in any city that homebuyers have saved.

“Given the fact that the holiday has only been in place for a few short months, the money saved by homebuyers as a result is quite astounding,” said Benham and Reeves director, Marc von Grundherr.

“Of course, it has caused demand to go through the roof and so you could argue that in ‘regular’ market conditions the saving wouldn’t be quite as considerable. However, it has helped the housing market bounce back from pandemic uncertainty at an alarming rate, helping to avoid a property price crash, while benefiting thousands of homebuyers in the process.

“It will be interesting to see the final scores on the doors once the holiday ends but at this rate, the money saved is going to be huge. 

“You could argue that the tax should be abolished completely as it’s nothing more than an archaic money grab from the government, to the detriment of those who are already stretching to afford the most expensive purchase in life. Based on these figures, you wouldn’t be the only one and it does highlight just how much is paid to the government via stamp duty tax.”

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