Official Statistics

UK Stamp Tax Statistics 2023 to 2024 - Commentary

Updated 5 December 2024

Applies to England and Northern Ireland

1. About this release

This publication presents information on Stamp Taxes, which are those collected for ‘Land and property’ Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT),’Stocks and shares and other liable securities’, Stamp Duty Reserve Tax and Stamp Duty (SDRT and SD). Liable transactions are identified as transactions where an SDLT liability is due. Non-liable transactions still complete an SDLT return, but do not have an SDLT liability.

The split between the liable and non-liable transactions is dependent on the level of the SDLT threshold. The current SDLT threshold is £250,000 for residential properties and £150,000 for non-residential properties. Residential properties under £250,000 may still be liable to SDLT if subject to either the HRAD or NRSDLT surcharge.

SDLT data is split by transaction type, property type, region, price band and buyer type, including transactions paying the higher rates on additional dwellings (HRAD) and Non Resident Stamp Duty Land Tax (NRSDLT).

This publication contains new data for 2023 to 2024 covering SDLT transaction numbers, property value and SDLT receipts by geography, buyer type and price band. Total receipts align to the HMRC tax receipts and National Insurance contributions for the UK. This publication finalises estimates of total transaction numbers and SDLT receipts split by property type included in HMRC’s Quarterly Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) statistics.

This publication uses pre-2024 Westminster parliamentary constituency boundaries, which may have the same name but not cover the same geographic area as the boundaries used for the 2024 UK general election.

An improvement in methodology impacting HRAD and NRSDLT receipt and transaction numbers from 2022 to 2023 onwards means this data is no longer directly comparable to previous years.

2. Changes to the publication

This publication contains new data for 2023 to 2024.

3. Main Points

The headline findings in this annual report are:

• total stamp tax receipts have fallen between financial year 2022 to 2023 and 2023 to 2024, decreasing by 23% from £19,130 million to £14,815 million. This decrease is due to a combination of a fall in transaction numbers and policy changes. The nil-rate threshold of SDLT for all purchasers of residential property and the nil-rate threshold of SDLT paid by first-time buyers increased in September 2022. This affected only half of 2022 to 2023 compared with the full 2023 to 2024 outturn year

• Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) receipts decreased by 24% from £15,360 million to £11,615 million between financial year 2022 to 2023 and 2023 to 2024

• stamp taxes on shares and other liable securities (SDRT and SD) receipts have fallen by 15% from £3,775 million to £3,200 million between 2022 to 2023 and 2023 to 2024

• residential SDLT receipts have fallen by 27% between financial year 2022 to 2023 and 2023 to 2024, from £11,720 million to £8,570 million

• non-residential SDLT receipts decreased by 16% between financial year 2022 to 2023 and 2023 to 2024, from £3,640 million to £3,045 million

• there were 191,500 transactions that were liable to pay the higher rates on additional dwellings (HRAD), which was 49,300 (20%) lower than in 2022 to 2023. HRAD receipts were £4,565 million in 2023 to 2024 which is £1,160 million (20%) lower than in financial year 2022 to 2023

• 113,100 transactions benefitted from First Time Buyers’ Relief (FTBR) in financial year 2023 to 2024, with an estimated £540 million relieved in total. When compared with financial year 2022 to 2023, there has been a fall in relieved transactions from 203,300 whilst the amount relieved decreased from £708 million. Part of the decrease is explained by first-time buyers purchasing a property with a price below £250,000 no longer having to claim the relief from September 2022 onwards

• 18,500 transactions were subject to Non Resident Stamp Duty Land Tax surcharge in financial year 2023 to 2024, which gave rise to £245 million of tax in financial year 2023 to 2024

4. Stamp taxes receipts

The main findings for stamp taxes receipts are:

• total stamp tax receipts have fallen between financial year 2022 to 2023 and 2023 to 2024, decreasing by 23%, from £19,130 million to £14,815 million

• Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) receipts decreased by 24% from £15,360 million to £11,615 million between financial year 2022 to 2023 and 2023 to 2024

• property receipts, excluding receipts from new leases decreased by 26% from £13,925 million to £10,310 million

• new lease receipts decreased by 9% from £1,435 million to £1,305 million

• stamp taxes on shares and other liable securities (SDRT and SD) receipts have fallen by 15% from £3,775 million to £3,200 million between 2022 to 2023 and 2023 to 2024

• Stamp Duty Reserve Tax (SDRT) receipts decreased by 11% from £2,585 million to £2,295 million

• Stamp Duty (SD) receipts decreased by 24% from £1,185 million to £905 million

5. Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) transactions and receipts by property type

Residential

The main findings for residential Stamp Duty Land Tax receipts and transactions by property type are:

• residential SDLT receipts decreased by 27% from £11,720 million to £8,570 million between financial year 2022 to 2023 and 2023 to 2024

• residential transactions have decreased 18% from 1,066,000 to 872,000 between financial year 2022 to 2023 and 2023 to 2024

Non-Residential

The main findings for non-residential Stamp Duty Land Tax receipts and transactions by property type are:

• non-residential receipts decreased by 16% from £3,640 million to £3,045 million between financial year 2022 to 2023 and 2023 to 2024

• non-residential transactions have also decreased by 3% from 108,000 to 105,000 between financial year 2022 to 2023 and 2023 to 2024

6. SDLT receipts and transactions by country and region

Receipts

Transactions in Scotland and Wales do not pay SDLT as land transaction taxes were devolved in both nations.

The following points illustrate a regional breakdown of SDLT receipts:

• 99% (£11,525 million) of SDLT receipts in financial year 2023 to 2024 came from transactions in England. This percentage remained unchanged compared to 2022 to 2023

• Northern Ireland accounted for 1% (£85 million) in receipts in financial year 2023 to 2024

• London was the region with the highest amount of SDLT receipts in financial year 2023 to 2024, £4,545 million (39% of total SDLT receipts). This was a decrease of 19% compared to 2022 to 2023

• all countries and regions saw a fall in residential receipts compared to financial year 2022 to 2023. This ranged from a 21% fall in Northern Ireland (from £70 million to £55 million), to a steeper 33% fall in the East of England (from £1,255 million to £840 million)

• all countries and regions saw a fall in non-residential receipts compared to financial year 2022 to 2023. This ranged from a 8% fall in London (from £1,055 million to £975 million), to a steeper 31% fall in the South East (from £715 million to £495 million)

Figure 1 below shows a breakdown of the percentage change in receipts by country and, within England, region between 2022 to 2023 and 2023 to 2024 by property type.

This figure shows that both England and Northern Ireland, and all regions within England saw a decrease in residential and non-residential receipts compared to financial year 2022 to 2023.

Figure 1: Receipts - percentage change between 2022 to 2023 and 2023 to 2024

Transactions

The following points illustrate a breakdown of SDLT transactions by transaction type and region:

• total transactions have decreased by 196,000 (17%), from 1,173,000 in financial year 2022 to 2023 to 977,000 in 2023 to 2024

• residential transaction numbers have decreased by 194,000 (18%), from 1,066,000 in financial year 2022 to 2023 to 872,000 in 2023 to 2024

• non-residential transaction numbers have fallen by 3,000 (3%) from 108,000 in financial year 2022 to 2023 to 105,000 in 2023 to 2024

Figure 2 below shows a breakdown of the percentage change in transactions by country and, within England, region between financial year 2022 to 2023 and 2023 to 2024 by property type.

This figure shows that the North East is the only region which hasn’t seen a decrease in non-residential transactions. Northern Ireland, England and all regions in England saw a decrease in residential transactions.

Figure 2: SDLT transactions - percentage change between 2022 to 2023 and 2023 to 2024

7. SDLT receipts by local authority and parliamentary constituency

Local authority and parliamentary constituency areas may have the same name but may not be the same geographical area due to having different boundaries. The following points illustrate a breakdown of SDLT receipts by local authority and Westminster parliamentary constituency:

• the local authorities with the highest SDLT receipts are mostly in London, with Buckinghamshire and Elmbridge the only areas not in London in the top 10 areas for residential receipts. For non-residential receipts, there is an equal split between London and non-London local authorities in the top 10

• the local authority area of Westminster had the highest SDLT receipts from residential transactions (£730 million)

• the UK parliamentary constituency of Cities of London and Westminster had the largest receipts for residential SDLT (£545 million)

• the local authority area of Westminster had the highest SDLT receipts from non-residential transactions (£270 million), representing 8.9% of all local authority non-residential SDLT receipts

• the UK parliamentary constituency of Cities of London and Westminster had the largest receipts for non-residential SDLT (£290 million) representing 9.5% of non-residential UK parliamentary constituency SDLT receipts

8. Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) transactions and receipts by price band

The points below illustrate Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) transactions and receipts by price band:

• total SDLT transactions, where the value of the property was £250,000 or less, accounted for 50% of transactions (increasing by 2 percentage points when compared to financial year 2022 to 2023), but 8% of total SDLT receipts in financial year 2023 to 2024 (remaining unchanged when compared to financial year 2022 to 2023)

• properties valued at over £1 million accounted for 4% of all transactions (remaining unchanged when compared to financial year 2022 to 2023), these properties accounted for 52% of total SDLT receipts (increasing by 2 percentage points when compared to financial year 2022 to 2023)

• residential properties, where the value is less than £250,000, accounted for 5% of residential property receipts and 48% of residential transactions in financial year 2023 to 2024

• non-residential properties, where the value is above £1 million, accounted for 74% of non-residential property receipts and only 11% of non-residential transactions in financial year 2023 to 2024

9. SDLT transactions and receipts by buyer type

The points below illustrate SDLT transactions and receipts by buyer type:

• the majority of residential properties are purchased by individuals (88%), which is similar to financial year 2022 to 2023

• 20% of residential properties over £2 million were purchased by non-natural persons (companies, partnerships and collective investment schemes) in financial year 2023 to 2024, this is 3 percentage points higher compared to financial year 2022 to 2023

• the amount of SDLT from non-natural persons paying the single rate of SDLT on residential transactions has decreased by 10% from £50 million in financial year 2022 to 2023 to £45 million in financial year 2023 to 2024

• the majority (76%) of non-residential transactions were made by non-natural persons in financial year 2023 to 2024. This remained unchanged compared to financial year 2022 to 2023

• non-individuals accounted for 92% of non-residential transactions over £2 million in financial year 2023 to 2024, remaining unchanged when compared to financial year 2022 to 2023

10. Age by price profile of residential purchasers

The points below illustrate SDLT transactions by age:

• 39% of all residential purchasers were aged between 25 and 39 in financial year 2023 to 2024. This is 1 percentage point decrease when compared to financial year 2022 to 2023

• the lowest price band, where the value is less than £250,000, accounts for the highest share of the 25 to 29 age band in financial year 2023 to 2024, with 54,400 transactions

• purchasers aged between 30 to 34 account for the highest share of property transactions in the £250,001 to £500,000 price band with 44,700 transactions

• purchasers aged between 35 to 39 account for the highest share of property transactions in the £500,001 to £1,000,000 price band with 14,100 transactions

• for transactions over £1 million the 40 to 44 age band accounts for the highest share of transactions

Analysis of the age of purchasers claiming First Time Buyers’ Relief shows that in financial year 2023 to 2024, the largest age group (29%) of claimants is for purchasers aged between 25 to 29 years old. The next largest age group is those aged 30 to 34 years old (23%).

Figure 3 below shows the percentages of individual residential purchasers by age band between financial year 2022 to 2023 and 2023 to 2024. The figures shown only represents the first purchaser that appears on the SDLT return for these years.

The distribution by age band shows a slight decrease in purchasers in groups aged 30 to 49, with a slight increase in purchasers aged 25 to 29 and aged 60 to 64 compared to 2022 to 2023.

Figure 3: Percentage of Individual Residential Purchasers by Age Band

11. Higher Rates on Additional Dwellings (HRAD) transactions and receipts

The section below shows Higher Rates on Additional Dwellings (HRAD) transactions and receipts:

• there were 191,500 transactions that were liable to pay the higher rates on additional dwellings (HRAD), which was 49,300 (20%) lower than in financial year 2022 to 2023

• higher rates on additional dwellings (HRAD) receipts were £4,565 million in financial year 2023 to 2024 which is £1,160 million (20%) lower than in 2022 to 2023. Of this total, £2,100 million came from the additional surcharge element, which is 20% lower than in financial year 2022 to 2023

• additional dwellings transactions accounted for 22% (a decrease of 1 percentage point when compared to financial year 2022 to 2023) of residential transactions and 53% (an increase of 4 percentage points when compared to financial year 2022 to 2023) of residential receipts in financial year 2023 to 2024, before accounting for HRAD refunds

Additional dwellings follow a slightly different distribution to main rate residential transactions, with higher proportions below £250,000 and above £2 million. This may be a reflection of different types of property investors invest in the lower and higher ends of the market.

The figures cited above include transactions involving company purchasers that are not subject to or are relieved from the higher flat rate of SDLT for non-natural persons.

12. Higher Rates on Additional Dwellings (HRAD) transactions and receipts by price band

The section below shows Higher Rates on Additional Dwellings (HRAD) transactions and receipts by price band:

• 5% of additional dwellings transactions were valued above £1 million in financial year 2023 to 2024, accounting for 48% of HRAD receipts, and 28% of the additional surcharge element total receipts

• 55% of additional dwellings transactions were valued below £250,000 in financial year 2023 to 2024 (1 percentage point higher than in financial year 2022 to 2023), accounting for 25% of residential SDLT transactions in this price band (decreasing by 1 percentage point when compared to financial year 2022 to 2023)

• HRAD transactions valued below £250,000 accounted for 100% of residential receipts within this price band (increasing by 10 percentage points when compared to financial year 2022 to 2023), before accounting for HRAD refunds. Only purchasers paying HRAD or NRSDLT are liable for SDLT within this price band

• Northern Ireland and all regions within England, saw an increase in the proportion of HRAD receipts when compared to financial year 2022 to 2023

• the region with the highest proportion of transactions which were additional dwellings was the North East (27%), whilst the East of England and the South East had the lowest proportion at 18%. This followed a similar pattern as financial year 2022 to 2023

• Northern Ireland had the highest proportion of residential receipts from HRAD transactions, at 70%

• the local authority area of Westminster had the highest HRAD 3% SDLT receipts from residential transactions (£120 million or 5.7% of total local authority HRAD receipts)

• the UK parliamentary constituency of Cities of London and Westminster had the largest receipts for residential HRAD 3% SDLT (£90 million or 4.3% of total UK parliamentary constituency HRAD receipts)

13. First Time Buyers’ Relief (FTBR) transactions

The section below illustrates First Time Buyers’ Relief (FTBR) transactions:

• the total amount of SDLT relieved due to FTBR in financial year 2023 to 2024 was estimated at £540 million, a reduction of £167 million compared to 2022 to 2023

• London and the South East accounted for £320 million of the relief in financial year 2023 to 2024, which is 59% of the total

• 113,100 transactions benefited from First Time Buyers’ Relief in financial year 2023 to 2024, this is a decrease of 44% from the 2022 to 2023 figure of 203,300

• nationally, the average amount relieved per transaction was £4,800, London had the highest average relief at £6,700 and East Midlands, Northern Ireland had the lowest at £3,100

Figure 4 below shows the percentage of transactions claiming First Time Buyers’ Relief by country and, within England, region between financial year 2022 to 2023 and 2023 to 2024.

This figure shows that there has been a decrease in the percentages of transactions claiming First Time Buyers’ Relief between 2022 to 2023 and 2023 to 2024 across all areas except London. Part of the decrease is explained by first-time buyers purchasing a property with a price below £250,000 no longer having to claim the relief from September 2022 onwards.

Figure 4: Percentage of residential transactions that benefited from FTBR by country and, within England, regions

14. Non Resident Stamp Duty Land Tax (NRSDLT) transactions

On 1 April 2021 a new 2% surcharge was introduced to be paid by non UK resident purchasers of residential properties in England and Northern Ireland.

The section below shows the main findings for NRSDLT:

• in England, the total amount of additional SDLT received due to NRSDLT in financial year 2023 to 2024 was estimated at £245 million, this is a decrease of 12% compared to 2022 to 2023

• London and the South East accounted for £195 million in financial year 2023 to 2024, which is 80% of total NRSDLT receipts

• 18,500 transactions were subject to this surcharge in financial year 2023 to 2024

15. Background information - recent changes in stamp taxes

Changes in Stamp Duty Land Tax

Over the past few years, there have been a number of major tax policy reforms affecting SDLT receipts. The structure of residential SDLT was subject to major reform in December 2014, therefore the figure for 2014 to 2015 includes tax collected under both the new and old systems. Prior to 4 December 2014, varying flat rates of SDLT were charged on the total consideration (price). Since then, SDLT for residential property is charged at different rates depending on the portion of the purchase price that falls within each rate band. The reforms mean that less SDLT was paid on the majority of residential transactions, with only those at higher prices paying more. A similar change was introduced for non-residential transactions in April 2016.

The increase in receipts in 2016 to 2017 is associated with the introduction of the higher rates of SDLT charged on additional residential properties (HRAD). This reform added 3 percentage points to the SDLT rate for purchasers who already own residential property.

First Time Buyers’ Relief (FTBR) was introduced in November 2017, which meant that first time buyers buying properties valued less than £300,000 paid no SDLT and those buying properties valued between £300,000 and £500,000 paid £5,000 less than standard rates.

In April 2015, land transaction taxes in Scotland was devolved to the Scottish Government and is now known as Land and Buildings Transactions Tax. Figures for SDLT from 2015 to 2016 onwards do not include any receipts from Scotland and are therefore not directly comparable with previous years. The fall in SDLT receipts in 2015 to 2016 compared with 2014 to 2015 is due to both the absence of receipts from Scotland and the fact that 2015 to 2016 was the first full financial year of the new SDLT regime.

Land transaction taxes were devolved to Wales in April 2018, so this publication no longer includes Welsh transactions that were completed from Q2 2018 onwards. However, a small number of Welsh transactions were filed after April 2018, thus they are reflected in transactions and receipts in the post-devolution period. The Welsh Revenue Authority publishes its own statistics on its new Land Transactions Tax which has replaced SDLT.

On 8 July 2020, the SDLT holiday was introduced. This raised the nil rate band for SDLT to £500,000 for the purchase of residential properties. This continued until 30 June 2021, after which time the nil-rate band reduced to the first £250,000 of the purchase price until 30 September 2021. Beyond this date the nil-rate band reverted to the first £125,000 of the purchase price.

On 1 April 2021 a 2% Non-Resident Stamp Duty Land Tax surcharge was introduced for non-residents who purchase residential property.

On 23 September 2022, the government announced that the 2% standard rate for residential properties for the part of the property price between £125,000 and £250,000 no longer applies. The announcement also included the raising of the thresholds for First Time Buyers’ Relief so that these purchases are completely exempt for the first £425,000 of the purchase price. On 17 November 2022 the government announced that these changes would be temporary and last from 23 September 2022 to 31 March 2025.

On 30 October 2024, the government announced an increase to the higher rates on additional dwellings (HRAD) paid by individuals and companies on purchases of residential properties, from 3 percentage points to 5 percentage points above the standard residential rates of SDLT. The announcement also increased the single rate of SDLT payable by companies and other non-natural persons when purchasing residential properties worth more than £500,000, from 15% to 17%. These measures came into effect for transactions with an effective date on or after 31 October 2024. Therefore, all applicable transactions in this publication are subject to the tax rates before this change.

Changes in ‘Other (Stamp Duty)’

Stamp Duty receipts rarely follow the same trend as SDRT. The increases in ‘Other (Stamp Duty)’ between 2015 to 2016 and 2016 to 2017 were in large part due to legislative changes for transfer schemes of arrangement and the resulting tax status. More information can be found under the following link for legislative changes for transfer schemes of arrangements.

Contact information

E-mail [email protected]

Website https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/stamp-duties-statistics

Contacts

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