HM Revenue and Customs have said that government revenue from stamp duty has fallen 10% from this time last year.
In 2017, total revenue generated totalled £2.605 billion and has fallen in the third quarter of 2018 to £2.347 billion.
Phillip Hammond announced the immediate abolition of stamp duty for all properties up to £300,000 for first-time buyers in November 2017. He also promised a rate of just 5% on the portion of a property price up to £500,000.
The new stamp duty has seen to be a big help for first-time buyers in the UK. In the third quarter of 2018, 58,000 first-time buyers saved £142 million according to HMRC.
“The stamp duty exemption has arguably been one of the most successful initiatives to get more buyers onto the housing ladder, providing a financial lifeline to almost 200,000 first-time buyers and helping them save a staggering £400 million to date,” said Shaun Church, from the mortgage brokers Private Finance.
Ben Hudson from the estate agents Hudson Moody in York said: “Since they changed the stamp duty levels, it has certainly helped first-time buyers and at the lower end of the market it has made things a bit cheaper. But in the second home and investment market, the 3% additional rate has had quite an impact.”
According to a report by the London School of Economics in 2017, the tax was “gumming up” the market and deterred older people from downsizing.
