HC Deb 08 March 1983 vol 38 cc341-2W
Mr. Nicholas Winterton

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what percentage of house purchases are liable for stamp duty in each region of the United Kingdom.

Mr. Wakeham

The latest available information is for November 1981 and relates to sales of residential property in England and Wales only; comparable figures for the rest of the United Kingdom are not available. Following the increase in the threshold in March 1982 the proportion for England and Wales as a whole probably dropped to about one third. The November 1981 figures are:

Numbers of residential properties sold: properties where sale liable to stamp duty as a percentage of all properties
Standard Region Per cent.
North 20
Yorkshire and Humberside 23
East Midlands 34
East Anglia 43
South East (excluding Greater London) 60
Greater London 63
South West 57
West Midlands 35
North West 29
Wales 23
Total: England and Wales 43

Overall, only about 10 per cent. of all house purchases are liable to stamp duty at the standard rate of 2 per cent.