A staggering £10.2 billion was paid in stamp duty in England between April and October (the first half of the current tax year), according to HMRC figures.

That was up £4.1 billion in a year, a 67% rise, but the figures are partly skewed by the closure of the property market in 2020, followed by the surge in purchases this year in the rush to beat the stamp duty holiday deadline.

October was a record month, with stamp duty on property up 76% compared to October last year, and up 25% from October 2019.

Sarah Coles, personal finance analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: “It’s difficult to compare tax years, because the government brought in a set of rules to try to make it easier to manage tax bills, and another set to get us to spend more money and buy more property.

“However, we can see the enormous impact of the stamp duty holiday. It has pushed the average house price to a record high of £270,000 – up £28,000 in a year, and driven transactions higher. This year we had the busiest ever September in the property market, as buyers rushed for the final stamp duty holiday deadline.

“In terms of stimulating the market, the move was clearly effective. However, if you’re trying to get onto the property ladder, or move up it, the impact is likely to be far less welcome. As the tax break dies away, buyers now have nothing to gain from the short-term measure, and in the process it has made the challenge of buying a home even harder.”

Inheritance tax up 20%

Inheritance tax was £3.6 billion over the same period, £0.6 billion higher than the same period a year earlier, which is a rise of 20%.

Overall tax receipts were up too, by £99.8 billion to £392.0 billion between April and October. Again, comparisons with last year’s figures are complicated by the impact of the panedemic and lockdowns in 2020.