Residential stamp duty property transactions in the second quarter were 7% higher than the first three months of the year, according to HMRC.

But the department adds that the number of deals in the second quarter of the year were 28% lower than in the same period a year ago, a full three quarters after the stamp duty holiday was unwound in September 2021. The tax break was introduced by the then Chancellor Rishi Sunak in July 2020 to kick-start the housing market, which had ground to a halt under pandemic restrictions.

The department says the rise in the second quarter of this year “follows consecutive falls in the previous three quarters”, which in turn “followed four quarters of continued growth, which were impacted by the introduction of the stamp duty holiday for residential properties and an ongoing strength in the housing market”.

It adds that residential property receipts in the second quarter were 16% higher than the first three months of this year, and 49% higher than the same period a year ago.

It says: “Receipts have again risen following a significant fall in the last quarter which had likely been impacted by the lower residential nil rate band of £125,000 which had followed a nil rate band of £250,000 for the third quarter of 2021 – the increase in total stamp duty receipts matches the increase in total stamp duty transactions for this quarter”.

Quilter mortgage expert Karen Noye says: “The rise in transactions in this quarter follows consecutive falls in the previous three quarters, which is largely as a result of the housing market starting to show signs of a slow down with the number of house sales falling following its boom during the pandemic.

“Both contenders for the next leader of the Conservative Party have remained muted about a cut to stamp duty. In the early part of his original leadership campaign, Boris Johnson had tabled a plan to ditch the tax altogether, which was eventually somewhat realised during the pandemic when stamp duty holidays were put in place to keep the housing market afloat.

“With those holidays now well and truly ended, stamp duty could become another political hot potato if either candidate decides to come out strongly about its future.”