Help to Buy scheme set to raise £1bn+ in taxes

The government’s Help to Buy scheme looks likely to raise some £1bn in taxes, experts are predicting.

The Help to Buy mortgage should stimulate an additional 400,000 property transactions, according to estate agents Savills. This will mean the amount of stamp duty paid should shoot up from £4.9bn to £6.6bn over the next four years, Savills predicts.

The Treasury is hoping for around 100,000 additional housing transactions every three months.

Rob Wood, chief UK economist at Berenberg Bank, has forecast that the government will take an additional £1bn to £2bn over the coming 18 months, thanks to the increased number of transactions and rising prices.

He said: “Help to Buy could easily bring in an extra £1bn in stamp duty next year, and a smaller amount this year. And there’s the impact on VAT from the extra transactions as owners buy new sofas.”