The property market revival has given HM Revenue & Customs a welcome windfall by dramatically increasing its tax take from stamp duty.
Monthly figures released by HMRC showed the government's tax take rising for yet another month, with residential property transactions showing the largest rate of increase.
Stamp duty consistently pulled in more than £800 million a month over the last quarter, said Frank Nash, a senior partner with London Chartered Accountants Blick Rothenberg LLP. "This is a watershed because it has never gone above this figure since 2008."
There were more than 200,000 residential property transactions in the last two months and a million in the last 12 months.
Of these, half a million transactions have come since Help to Buy Scheme was launched in April. This has helped to power the number of home transactions to their highest level for five years.
The growing tax take was being fuelled by an increased demand for property, low interest rates, government incentives such as Help to Buy and de-regulation.
Nash said: "The government is lending new buyers a 20% deposit, which could fuel growth, inflation and house prices. It needs to be tempered and perhaps be a long-term rather than a short-term scheme. New buyers should have the same opportunities over a longer time scale.”
Nash said that there was was further good news for the taxman, because the rising number of property transactions will also boost consumer spending on ancillary housing items, increasing the VAT take.
“This highlights the importance of the property market for the UK economy in terms of its overall health.”
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