The average house in the South West is priced at £261,000. Since the SDLT was changed from the old slab structure whereby homebuyers paid one rate of tax on the whole property price to a slice system similar to income tax, South West buyers have saved, on average £4,800, on each residential transaction.
Homebuyers in the North West saw the second highest saving in SDTL at £90m equating to £700 less for the average house priced at £182,000.
In total, 780,000 homebuyers have made an estimated saving of £657m during the 12-month period from the 4 December 2014 to 5 December 2015.
The government’s research showed transactions at the top end of the market, exposed to a higher tax bill under the slice structure, have remained constant while receipts for homes costing more than £1m went up by 15% across the year.
When the new structure was unveiled, Chancellor George Osborne said 98% of people eligible to pay Stamp Duty would see a reduction in their bill.
Osborne said: “I am determined that this government will continue to take bold action to support a homeowning democracy.
The Chancellor said the statistics coincided with analysis from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) which found that the reform has “reduced distortions and is a step in the right direction”.
