Homebuyers paid a total of £1.2bn in stamp duty land tax in July, up from £1bn a month earlier, according to the latest data from HMRC.
This is the most paid in one month since December 2022 when £1.42bn was paid.
So far this year, homebuyers have paid £6.6bn towards the tax, £100m more than the £6.5bn paid over the corresponding period in 2023.
The tax take will increase further once property purchasers have to start paying SDLT again on any property bought for over £125,000 from March 2025.
Additionally, first-time buyers will have to pay SDLT on residential properties purchased for anything over £300,000, a drop from the existing level of £425,000.
It is predicted these changes will double the tax bill of an average priced home from £2,768 to £5,268, and as a result Coventry Building Society has called on the Government to reform stamp duty.
Jonathan Stinton, head of intermediary relationships at Coventry Building Society, said: “The Treasury is taking in huge sums of property taxes while homebuyers are racking up the debt. A stamp duty bill can be thousands of pounds, so if people don’t have that amount lying around, they’ll probably need to borrow more to cover the tax on their home.
“In seven months’ time, the scale is set to tip even more in the Treasury’s favour, with the nil-rate band set to halve to £125,000. The Chancellor should see the October Budget as an opportunity to level the scales and announce changes [that] will stop the tax on an average-priced property jumping up by £2,500 overnight. Short-term pain for the Chancellor could result in longer-term gain for the broader economy.”
Stinton added: “Reducing the burden on homebuyers doesn’t have to be too costly for the Treasury either – the stamp duty holiday in 2020 and 2021 proved that homebuyers can get a break and tax revenue can remain healthy. It may even benefit the economy, as people could spend the extra cash on improving their new home, boosting the retail and services sectors and returning some tax revenue through VAT.”
