An increase to the stamp duty land tax surcharge on second homes and buy-to-let properties may have been planned and later scrapped in the Autumn Budget and Spending Review.
The Office for Budget Responsibility’s report which was published after chancellor Rishi Sunak’s speech states that the levy had risen.
The report, which has not been corrected, said: “A three per cent surcharge on additional property purchases was introduced in April 2016. It has been raised to four per cent in this Budget.”
It added: “HMRC has analysed the response to its introduction and found that it was strong.”
However, Sunak did not mention this on Budget day, suggesting it may have been dropped at the last minute.
A spokesperson for the Treasury said: “No change to stamp duty rates was announced at this Budget.”
Overall, announcements regarding the property sector remained relatively light in the Budget, resulting in some industry figures criticising the government for not making key reforms.
The majority of updates clarified or slightly amended existing policies, such as the confirmation that the developer levy tax to pay for the remediation of unsafe cladding would apply to companies with profits of £25m or more at a rate of four per cent.
Shekina is the deputy editor at Mortgage Solutions and commercial editor at Mortgage Solutions and Specialist Lending Solutions. She has nearly eight years of experience in the B2B publishing market, having previously covered the hospitality, retail, pet, accounting and jewellery sectors.
Shekina has worked for Mortgage Solutions and Specialist Lending Solutions for almost five years. Here, she covers the market’s breaking news stories, engages with professionals in the sector, and oversees any commercially agreed content in partnership with mortgage-related companies.
This includes presenting webinars and hosting roundtable discussions on developing themes in the mortgage sector.
She is an NCTJ-trained journalist and was nominated for the Headline Money Awards Mortgage Journalist of the Year in 2021.
In her spare time, Shekina likes to read, travel, listen to music and socialise with friends.
She currently reports on current events in the mortgage market and liaises with financial clients to produce sponsored content.
Follow her on Twitter at @ShekinaMS
