§ Mr. Maurice Macmillanasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer when the thresholds were last set for the stamp duty on property transfers; what would have been the level of those thresholds on 1 March 1979 had they been tied to the retail price index; what would have been the level of these thresholds had they been tied to an index of house prices since that date; if he has any plans to regionalise the rates and thresholds of this stamp duty; and what percentage of property transactions were liable to this stamp duty in each region in each of the past 10 years.
§ Mr. Denzil Davies, pursuant to the reply [Official Report, 12 March 1979; Vol. 964, c. 70], gave the following information:
The current scale of rates of stamp duty applying to transfers of land took effect from 1 May 1974. Under it no duty is payable on values up to £15,000 and reduced rates apply to values between that figure and £30,000.
PERCENTAGE OF SALES OF RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY LIABLE TO STAMP DUTY Standard Economic Region October 1973* October 1974 November 1975 November 1976 November 1977 North … 12.3 3.9 6.2 8.8 13.1 Yorkshire and Humberside … 11.6 4.6 7.3 8.7 12.3 East Midlands … 18.8 7.0 8.8 8.7 11.1 East Anglia … 40.4 11.5 11.2 13.6 18.0 South East† … 62.1 24.4 27.8 30.1 37.6 Greater London … 54.5 20.8 24.8 25.7 36.4 South West … 45.1 17.2 19.3 23.4 30.4 West Midlands … 18.1 7.5 11.4 10.1 14.7 North West … 12.7 4.6 7.6 7.6 10.4 Wales … 14.2 7.1 8.0 12.0 18.9 England and Wales … 32.5 12.8 16.1 17.4 23.4 * In October 1973 the threshold at which stamp duty on conveyances became payable was £10,000. † Excluding Greater London.