Sharp rise in stamp duty burden

Stamp duty revenue from UK residential sales rose by 40%

A quarter of the country's entire residential stamp-duty burden is shouldered by just 25 local authority areas, the Halifax bank has found.

The 2006/7 tax year figures showed all of the 10 authorities which generated more than £50m were in London or on the capital's edge.

The Halifax said more than one in seven councils saw at least a 50% rise in the duty paid by homebuyers in their area.

Sales above the £250,000 duty threshold had risen sharply, it added.

The authorities that generated the most stamp-duty of all were Kensington and Chelsea at £235 million, followed by Westminster, £193 million, and Wandsworth, £122 million.

'Steep increases'

The only areas outside the south-east which were in the stamp-duty top 25 were Edinburgh, Leeds, Bristol and Birmingham.

Martin Ellis, Halifax chief economist, said: "There were some very steep increases in residential stamp duty revenue at a local level in the last financial year.

"A sharp rise in the number of property sales above the 3% stamp duty threshold of £250,000 has been a key factor behind this dramatic increase."

The total stamp duty revenue from residential property sales in the UK rose by 40% in 2006/07 to a record £6.4bn, the Halifax said. During the past five years, annual residential stamp duty revenue has more than doubled.

Properties costing more than £250,000 pay 3% stamp duty, and homes above £500,000 pay 4%.

The Halifax estimates that 25% of properties in the UK - 5.4 million - are now valued above the £250,000 stamp duty threshold.