Stamp duty rush contributed to higher sales

The rush to complete sales before the stamp duty deadline of 31 March, when thresholds were raised, showed a boost in transaction data according to HMRC. The provisional seasonally adjusted estimate of the number of UK residential transactions in February 2025 is 108,250, 28% higher than February 2024 and 13% higher than January 2025. This was the busiest February since 2022, HMRC data shows.

Rightmove has predicted 1.15 million final transactions for the whole of 2025, which included 575,000 homes going through the legal completion process to beat the deadline. Rightmove’s recent stamp duty report identified an estimated 74,000 moves, which included 25,000 first-time buyers, could have just missed the March 31st deadline, completing in April instead. This will raise an extra £142 million in tax.

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