Stamp duty paid to HMRC in the six months to September were 14% up on the same period of 2024, reaching £9.8 billion.

SDLT raised £11.6 billion over the full calendar year to date.

Coventry Building Society head of mortgage relations Jonathan Stinton says: “Buyers and sellers are being left in tax purgatory by the Treasury’s refusal to confirm or deny rumours of changes to stamp duty.  

“Although the September receipts are for property purchases made after the speculation on property tax was already out there, it’s highly unlikely many buyers would have pulled the plug at such a late stage. But transactions could start to dwindle as some buyers choose to hold fire, and we may start to see tax receipts start to lose momentum as a result.   

“Any reform to property tax needs to be well considered and well communicated. Buying a home is likely to be the most expensive purchase anyone can make, so it’s normal for people to want to understand the tax implications of waiting a few weeks if the difference could be thousands of pounds.”

There has been speculation that stamp duty for at least some properties could be scrapped in next month’s Budget, with a replacement annual property tax levied on homes valued at £500,000 and above.