Stamp duty payments rose year-on-year in January

March 1, 2026 by Brendan O'Neill

Surveys and Statistics

The latest figures show that stamp duty payments rose year-on-year during January, in another encouraging sign for the UK property market.

These figures were released by HMRC, and they show total stamp duty receipts of £899 million for January. By way of comparison, the total for January in 2025 was £848 million. This amounts to a year-on-year rise of 6%. That would be an encouraging enough sign on its own, but the fact that it happened in January makes it even more so. The opening month of each year is usually a slow one for the property market.

Last year was a bumper one for stamp duty receipts – with those buying homes forking out £15.4 billion in total. This was a big increase on the £13 billion of the year before, but is largely accounted for by changes to the tax threshold.

The nil-rate threshold below which homebuyers do not have to pay stamp duty was lowered to £125,000 in April, from the previous £250,000. Given the rising prices of homes in the UK, it left a lot more people having to pay this tax.

Jonathan Stinton works for Coventry Building Society as its intermediary relationships head. Financial Reporter asked him to comment on the figures and he said:

“If stamp duty has any chance of being considered fair and proportionate, it has to reflect today’s market. We have seen the government make sudden changes in direction on policies and this would be a welcome one.”

Most mortgage advisors with CeMAP training will share that view.