Official Statistics

UK Stamp Tax statistics 2022 to 2023 - Commentary

Updated 7 December 2023

Applies to England and Northern Ireland

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). 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 relates to the 2022 to 2023 financial year. Figures within this publication are affected by changes to SDLT rates introduced on 23 September 2022.

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has identified an analytical error affecting published statistics for the Non Resident Stamp Duty Land Tax (NRSDLT) surcharge values and claimant numbers in financial year 2021 to 2022. The numbers and tax amounts were significantly understated. This error did not impact tax liabilities or payments received by HMRC.

These estimates were included in the 2021 to 2022 publication of UK Stamp Tax statistics. We have now reviewed the methodology used to produce NRSDLT estimates and have updated figures in this publication.

HMRC has made improvements to the methodology for estimating HRAD and NRSDLT receipts and number of liable HRAD and NRSDLT transactions, effective from financial year 2022 to 2023. These have resulted in uplifts to both receipts and transaction numbers, and as such HRAD and NRSDLT data is no longer directly comparable to previous years.

HMRC also previously announced that we identified an analytical error affecting published statistics for First Time Buyers’ Relief values and claimant numbers in financial years 2020 to 2021 and 2021 to 2022. This error did not impact tax liabilities or payments received by HMRC. We have now reviewed the methodology used to produce estimates for First Time Buyers’ Relief amounts and claimant numbers and have reintroduced estimates relating to this relief in this publication.

Changes to the publication

This publication contains new data for 2022 to 2023, revised data for 2021 to 2022 for NRSDLT and revised data for 2020 to 2021 and 2021 to 2022 for First Time Buyers’ Relief.

Main Points

The headline findings in this annual report are:

• total stamp tax receipts have risen between financial year 2021 to 2022 and 2022 to 2023, increasing by 4% from £18,465 million to £19,130 million

• Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) receipts increased by 9% from £14,100 million to £15,360 million between financial year 2021 to 2022 and 2022 to 2023

• stamp taxes on shares and other liable securities (SDRT and SD) receipts have fallen by 14% from £4,370 million to £3,775 million between 2021 to 2022 and 2022 to 2023

• residential SDLT receipts have risen by 15% between financial year 2021 to 2022 and 2022 to 2023, from £10,170 million to £11,720 million

• non-residential SDLT receipts decreased by 7% between financial year 2021 to 2022 and 2022 to 2023, from £3,930 million to £3,640 million

• London was the region with the highest amount of SDLT receipts in financial year 2022 to 2023, £5,600 million, which was an increase of 10% compared to 2021 to 2022. SDLT receipts in London accounted for 36% of total SDLT receipts

• properties valued at £250,000 or less accounted for 48% of all transactions (decreasing by 4 percentage points when compared to financial year 2021 to 2022). These properties accounted for 8% of total SDLT receipts (decreasing by 1 percentage point compared to financial year 2021 to 2022)

• properties valued at over £1 million accounted for 4% of all transactions (increasing by 1 percentage point when compared to financial year 2021 to 2022). These properties accounted for 50% of total SDLT receipts (decreasing by 2 percentage points when compared to financial year 2021 to 2022)

• there were 240,800 transactions that were eligible to pay the higher rates on additional dwellings (HRAD), which was 43,300 (15%) lower than in 2021 to 2022. HRAD receipts were £5,725 million in 2022 to 2023 which is £1,165 million (26%) higher than in financial year 2021 to 2022

• 203,300 transactions benefitted from First Time Buyers’ Relief (FTBR) in financial year 2022 to 2023, with an estimated £708 million relieved in total. When compared with financial year 2021 to 2022, there has been a rise in relieved transactions from 151,900 whilst the amount relieved increased from £372 million

• 21,900 transactions were subject to Non Resident Stamp Duty Land Tax surcharge in financial year 2022 to 2023, which gave rise to £280 million of tax in financial year 2022 to 2023

Stamp taxes receipts

The main findings for stamp taxes receipts are:

• total stamp tax receipts have risen between financial year 2021 to 2022 and 2022 to 2023, increasing by 4%, from £18,465 million to £19,130 million

• Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) receipts increased by 9% from £14,100 million to £15,360 million between financial year 2021 to 2022 and 2022 to 2023

  • property receipts, excluding receipts from new leases increased by 7% from £12,990 million to £13,925 million
  • new lease receipts increased by 29% from £1,110 million to £1,435 million

• stamp taxes on shares and other liable securities (SDRT and SD) receipts have fallen by 14% from £4,370 million to £3,775 million between 2021 to 2022 and 2022 to 2023

  • Stamp Duty Reserve Tax (SDRT) receipts decreased by 11% from £2,915 million to £2,585 million
  • Stamp Duty (SD) receipts decreased by 19% from £1,455 million to £1,185 million

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 increased by 15% from £10,170 million to £11,720 million between financial year 2021 to 2022 and 2022 to 2023

• residential transactions have decreased from 1,208,000 to 1,066,000 between financial year 2021 to 2022 and 2022 to 2023

• the reduction in transactions coincides with the end of the temporary reduced rates of SDLT for residential properties in September 2021

Non-Residential

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

• non-residential receipts decreased by 7% from £3,930 million to £3,640 million between financial year 2021 to 2022 and 2022 to 2023

• non-residential transactions have also decreased by 4% from 112,000 to 108,000 between financial year 2021 to 2022 and 2022 to 2023

SDLT receipts and transactions by country and region

Receipts

The following points illustrate a regional breakdown of SDLT receipts:

• 99% (£15,250 million) of SDLT receipts in financial year 2022 to 2023 came from transactions in England. The percentage remained unchanged compared to 2021 to 2022

• Northern Ireland accounted for 1% (£110 million) in receipts in financial year 2022 to 2023

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

• London was the region with the highest amount of SDLT receipts in financial year 2022 to 2023, £5,600 million or 36% of total SDLT receipts. This was an increase of 10% compared to 2021 to 2022

• SDLT receipts in England have mirrored the rise in total receipts between financial year 2021 to 2022 and 2022 to 2023, increasing by 9%, from £14,000 million to £15,250 million

• SDLT receipts in Northern Ireland have also shown a rise from £100 million to £110 million between 2021 to 2022 and 2022 to 2023

• all countries and regions saw a rise in residential receipts compared to financial year 2021 to 2022. This ranged from an 8% rise in Northern Ireland (from £65 million to £70 million), to a steeper 23% rise in the East Midlands (from £370 million to £455 million)

• there were changes across the countries and regions in non-residential receipts when compared to financial year 2021 to 2022. This ranged from an 14% rise in Northern Ireland (from £35 million to £40 million) to a 28% fall in the North East (from £90 million to £65 million). Whilst the South West remained unchanged

Figure 1 below shows a breakdown of the percentage change in receipts by region between 2021 to 2022 and 2022 to 2023 by property type. This figure shows that both England and Northern Ireland, and all regions within England saw a rise in residential receipts compared to financial year 2021 to 2022. In contrast, all regions within England, with the exception of the North West and South West, saw a fall in non-residential receipts compared to the previous year. Northern Ireland also saw an increase in non-residential receipts.

Figure 1: Receipts - percentage change between 2021 to 2022 and 2022 to 2023

Transactions

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

• total transactions have decreased by 147,000 (11%), from 1,320,000 in financial year 2021 to 2022 to 1,173,000 in 2022 to 2023

• the reduction in transactions coincides with the end of the temporary reduced rates of SDLT for residential properties in September 2021

• residential transaction numbers have decreased by 142,000 (12%), from 1,208,000 in financial year 2021 to 2022 to 1,066,000 in 2022 to 2023

• non-residential transaction numbers have fallen by 4,000 (4%) from 112,000 in financial year 2021 to 2022 to 108,000 in 2022 to 2023

Figure 2 below shows a breakdown of the percentage change in transactions by region between financial year 2021 to 2022 and 2022 to 2023 for both residential and non-residential transactions.

This figure shows the South East as the only region that saw a fall in non-residential transactions alongside England as a whole, with the rest of the regions and Northern Ireland remaining unchanged compared to financial year 2021 to 2022. Northern Ireland and all regions within England saw a fall in residential transactions compared to the previous year.

Figure 2: SDLT transactions - percentage change between 2021 to 2022 and 2022 to 2023

SDLT receipts by local authority and parliamentary constituency

The following points illustrate a breakdown of SDLT receipts by local authority and 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

• note that 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 local authority area of Westminster had the highest SDLT receipts from residential transactions (£765 million), representing 6.5% of all residential local authority SDLT receipts

• the UK parliamentary constituency of Cities of London and Westminster had the largest receipts for residential SDLT (£545 million) representing 4.6% of residential UK parliamentary constituency SDLT receipts

• the local authority area of Westminster had the highest SDLT receipts from non-residential transactions (£210 million), representing 5.8% 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 (£240 million) representing 6.6% of non-residential UK parliamentary constituency SDLT receipts

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 48% of transactions (decreasing by 4 percentage points when compared to financial year 2021 to 2022), but 8% of total SDLT receipts in financial year 2022 to 2023 (decreasing by 1 percentage point when compared to financial year 2021 to 2022)

• properties valued at over £1 million accounted for 4% of all transactions (increasing by 1 percentage point when compared to financial year 2021 to 2022), these properties accounted for 50% of total SDLT receipts (decreasing by 2 percentage points when compared to financial year 2021 to 2022)

• residential properties, where the value is less than £250,000, accounted for 6% of residential property receipts and 46% of residential transactions in financial year 2022 to 2023

• non-residential properties, where the value is above £1 million, accounted for 79% of non-residential property receipts but only 12% of non-residential transactions in financial year 2022 to 2023

SDLT transactions and receipts by buyer type

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

• the majority of residential properties are bought by individuals (89%), which is similar to financial year 2021 to 2022

• the propensity for non-individuals (e.g. public sector bodies, charities etc.) to purchase residential properties increases with price

• just over 17% of residential properties over £2 million were purchased by this type of buyer in financial year 2022 to 2023, this is 1 percentage point lower compared to financial year 2021 to 2022

• the amount of SDLT from non-natural persons (companies, partnerships and collective investment schemes) paying the 15% rate of SDLT on residential transactions has decreased by 41% from £85 million in financial year 2021 to 2022 to £50 million in financial year 2022 to 2023

• the majority (76%) of non-residential transactions were made by non-individuals in financial year 2022 to 2023, this is a rise of 2 percentage points compared to financial year 2021 to 2022

• non-individuals accounted for 92% of non-residential transactions over £2 million in financial year 2022 to 2023, remaining unchanged when compared to financial year 2021 to 2022

Age by price profile of residential purchasers

The points below illustrate SDLT transactions by age:

• 40% of all residential purchasers were aged between 25 and 39 in financial year 2022 to 2023. This is unchanged when compared to financial year 2021 to 2022

A further breakdown shows:

• 12% of all residential purchasers were aged between 25 and 29 (decreasing by 1 percentage point from financial year 2021 to 2022)
• 15% of all residential purchasers were aged between 30 and 34 (remaining unchanged compared to financial year 2021 to 2022)
• 13% of all residential purchasers were aged between 35 and 39 (increasing by 1 percentage point compared to financial year 2021 to 2022)

• the remaining 60% of all residential purchasers had a very similar distribution by all age bands for financial year 2021 to 2022

• 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 2022 to 2023, with 64,600 transactions

• proceeding through the other price bands in financial year 2022 to 2023, the £250,001 to £500,000 band accounts for the highest share of the 30 to 34 age range with 60,400 transactions, the £500,001 to £1,000,000 band accounts for the highest share of the 35 to 39 range with 19,600

• 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 2022 to 2023, the largest age group (30%) 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 (24%). There is very little difference between the distribution of the age of purchasers claiming the relief in both 2021 to 2022 and 2022 to 2023. This information can be found in Table 6d of the accompanying spreadsheet.

Figure 3 below shows the percentages of individual residential purchasers by age band in both 2021 to 2022 and 2022 to 2023. 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 increase in age of purchasers, with a higher percentage of transactions by individuals among 35 to 39 years old and lower percentage for 25 to 29 year olds compared to 2021 to 2022.

Figure 3: Percentage of Individual Residential Purchasers by Age Band

Higher Rates on Additional Dwellings (HRAD) transactions and receipts

HMRC has made improvements to the methodology for estimating HRAD receipts and number of liable HRAD transactions, effective from financial year 2022 to 2023. These have resulted in uplifts to both receipts and transaction numbers, and as such HRAD data is no longer directly comparable to previous years.

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

• there were 240,800 transactions that were eligible to pay the higher rates on additional dwellings (HRAD), which was 43,300 (15%) lower than in financial year 2021 to 2022

• higher rates on additional dwellings (HRAD) receipts were £5,725 million in financial year 2022 to 2023 which is £1,165 million (26%) higher than in 2021 to 2022. Of this total, £2,620 million came from the additional 3% element, which is 49% higher than in financial year 2021 to 2022

• additional dwellings transactions accounted for 23% (a decrease of 1 percentage point when compared to financial year 2021 to 2022) of residential transactions and 49% (an increase of 4 percentage points when compared to financial year 2021 to 2022) of residential receipts in financial year 2022 to 2023, 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 15% non-natural persons taxation rate.

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:

• 4% of additional dwellings transactions were valued above £1 million in financial year 2022 to 2023, accounting for 44% of HRAD receipts, and 26% of the 3% surcharge total receipts

• 54% of additional dwellings transactions were valued below £250,000 in financial year 2022 to 2023 (3 percentage points lower than in financial year 2021 to 2022), accounting for 26% of residential SDLT transactions in this price band (decreasing by 1 percentage point when compared to financial year 2021 to 2022) and 90% of residential receipts within this price band (increasing by 9 percentage points when compared to financial year 2021 to 2022)

• there were changes across the regions in the proportion of HRAD transactions when compared to financial year 2021 to 2022; this ranged from a 1 percentage point rise in Northern Ireland (from 25% to 26%) to a 3 percentage points fall in London (from 29% to 26%)

• all regions within England saw an increase in the proportion of HRAD receipts when compared to financial year 2021 to 2022, with the largest rise an 8 percentage point increase in London (from 47% to 55%). Northern Ireland remained unchanged compared to the previous year at 65%

• the local authority area of Westminster had the highest HRAD 3% SDLT receipts from residential transactions (£130 million or 4.9% 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 3.4% of total UK parliamentary constituency HRAD receipts)

• the region with the highest proportion of transactions which were additional dwellings was the North East (27%), whilst the South East had the lowest proportion at 19%. This followed a similar pattern as financial year 2021 to 2022

• Northern Ireland had the highest proportion of residential receipts from HRAD transactions, at 65%

First Time Buyers’ Relief (FTBR) transactions

The section below illustrates First Time Buyers’ Relief (FTBR) transactions. These figures are affected by SDLT changes introduced on 23 September 2022. After this change, first time buyers no longer needed to claim the relief if they are purchasing a property for £250,000 or less. First time buyers purchasing a property for £500,000 to £625,000 also qualify for the relief as a result of the change and the amount of relief increased to fully relieve the first £425,000 of the purchase price.

• the total amount of SDLT relieved due to FTBR in financial year 2022 to 2023 was estimated at £708 million, this is higher than the figure of £372 million in 2021 to 2022 as the introduction of the SDLT temporary reduced rates in July 2020 meant that it was unnecessary to claim this relief between 8 July 2020 and 30 June 2021

• London and the South East accounted for £358 million of the relief in financial year 2022 to 2023, which is 51% of the total

• 203,300 transactions benefited from First Time Buyers’ Relief in financial year 2022 to 2023, this is an increase of 34% from the 2021 to 2022 figure of 151,900

• the average amount relieved per transaction was £3,500, London had the highest average relief at £5,600 and Northern Ireland had the lowest at £1,400

Figure 4 below shows the percentage of transactions claiming First Time Buyers’ Relief by country and, within England, region for both 2021 to 2022 and 2022 to 2023. This figure shows that there has been an increase in the percentages of transactions claiming First Time Buyers’ Relief between 2021 to 2022 and 2022 to 2023 across all areas.

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

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.

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has identified an analytical error affecting published statistics for the Non Resident Stamp Duty Land Tax (NRSDLT) surcharge values and claimant numbers in financial year 2021 to 2022. We have now reviewed the methodology used to produce NRSDLT estimates and have updated figures in this publication.

HMRC has also made improvements to the methodology for estimating NRSDLT receipts and number of liable NRSDLT transactions, effective from financial year 2022 to 2023. These have resulted in uplifts to both receipts and transaction numbers, and as such NRSDLT data is no longer directly comparable to previous years.

The section below shows the main findings for NRSDLT:

• the total amount of additional SDLT received due to NRSDLT in financial year 2022 to 2023 was estimated at £280 million, this is an increase of 56% compared to 2021 to 2022

• London and the South East accounted for £205 million in financial year 2022 to 2023, which is 73% of total NRSDLT receipts

• 21,900 transactions were subject to this surcharge in financial year 2022 to 2023

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 2014-15 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 2016-17 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 2015-16 onwards do not include any receipts from Scotland and are therefore not directly comparable with previous years. The fall in SDLT receipts in 2015-16 compared with 2014-15 is due to both the absence of receipts from Scotland and the fact that 2015-16 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.

Changes in ‘Other (Stamp Duty)’

Stamp Duty receipts rarely follow the same trend as SDRT. The increases in ‘Other (Stamp Duty)’ between 2015-16 and 2016-17 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 stamptaxes.statistics@hmrc.gov.uk

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

Contacts

Media 03000 585 024