Residential property transactions in the UK fell on both a yearly and monthly basis in April 2016, following a bumper month in March, data from HMRC has found.
The provisional seasonally adjusted residential property transaction count for April was 84,280, down from 153,700 in March, marking a 45.2% monthly decrease and a 14.5% drop from April 2015.
The figure represents a three-year low for residential property transactions in the UK.
In its data, HMRC said the large increase in transactions in March, followed by the substantial reduction in April is “likely to be associated with the introduction of the higher rates on additional properties in April 2016″.
A Stamp Duty surcharge of 3% was levied on all buy-to-let and second home purchases on 1 April this year.
Including non-residential, a total of 94,370 properties changed hands in April, down from the record high of 164,400 transactions in March.
