UK property buyers paid a record £16.9bn in stamp duty tax between April 2021 and February 2022, a £6.1bn increase compared to the previous tax year.

The figure tops the previous record of £16.4bn, which was collected in 2017, as stamp duty holidays during the pandemic continued to prop up the UK property market.

Hargreaves Lansdown senior pensions and retirement analyst Helen Morrisey says that tax breaks, and consumer preference to move out of cities in favour of larger properties with outdoor space, drove the total 2021 receipt figure: “These factors kept the property market red hot until the end of the year,” she says.

“However, whether the market can continue to maintain this momentum remains to be seen.”

Tax receipts were lower in 2020 as property sales fell due to market uncertainties in the first few months of the pandemic, and as a result of reduced rates.

The highest figure for receipts last year came in December, which an HMRC statement attributed to taxpayer desire to complete on properties before Christmas.