UK property sales down 52% after rush to beat tax break deadline
The number of homes sold in the United Kingdom fell by more than half last month after the expiry of…
The number of homes sold in the United Kingdom fell by more than half last month after the expiry of a tax break which sought to encourage home purchases during the coronavirus crisis, official data showed on Tuesday.
Britain’s tax office reported 76,930 residential property transactions in October, 52% lower than in September and 28.2% lower than October 2020.
British finance minister Rishi Sunak last year temporarily scrapped the stamp duty tax on the first 500,000 pounds ($668,600.00) of property purchases in England and Northern Ireland.
That full exemption expired at the end of June but buyers benefitted from a 250,000 pound ($334,075) exemption until the end of September.
A tax exemption measure in Wales ended in June, while Scotland stopped a tax break there in March.
Other data has shown house prices continued to rise in October, pushed up in large part by a shortage of homes on the market.
Britain’s housing market has also been boosted by demand for bigger properties as more people work from home.
($1 = 0.7483 pounds)
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