28/06/2026
Stamp duty is not just a tax on buying a home.
It is a tax on moving.
And when you tax moving, people move less.
HMRC data showed UK residential property transactions fell from 165,340 in March 2025 to 55,970 in April 2025 after buyers rushed to complete before stamp duty changes.
That is a 66% fall in one month.
Figures for seasonally adjusted residential transactions in April 2026 are 3% lower than March 2026 falling by thousands of transactions too.
