Housing taxes earn a record £600m-plus
THE revenue generated in Scotland by the tax that people pay on purchasing homes over a certain price, plus for the purchase of any additional dwellings, has topped £600m, according to figures just released.
According to research carried out by property specialists, Rettie, the combined total earned from (the Scottish) Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT) and Additional Dwelling Supplement (ADS) was a record, at over £620m, for the 2022-23 financial year.
The previous year, then the highest, was £572.5m.
LBTT (which replaced Stamp Duty in 2015) operates – with certain exceptions; for instance, first-time buyers – to certain bands: zero per cent for a purchase up to £145,000, two per cent for £145,001 to £250,000, five per cent for £250,001 to £325,000 and so on.
Says Rettie, here, the £600m-plus was primarily off the back of 63 per cent of properties in Scotland selling for over £145,000.
Edinburgh generated an estimated 27 per cent of the LBTT revenue from 11 per cent of the country’s house sales; while sales over £750,000 generated 22 per cent of LBTT revenue, from around one per cent of overall transactions.
Adds Rettie, in a media release accompanying its announcement: “Total LBTT revenue from Edinburgh was estimated to be over £128 million in 2022/23, compared to the next highest area, Glasgow, which generated approximately £38 million. The average LBTT bill in Edinburgh was £11,720, compared to £3,288 in Glasgow, and £3,062 in Aberdeen.
“The postcodes that generated the most revenue in 2022/23 were EH4 (including Barnton and Cramond), EH10 (including Morningside), EH12 (including Murrayfield), EH3 (including Edinburgh New Town), and G77 (including Newton Mearns).
“The highest average LBTT bill by area was in East Lothian (EH31, including Gullane) (at £37,000), followed by the Southside of Edinburgh (EH10) at £28,000, and North Berwick (EH39) at £27,000.
“LBTT revenue generated by new build sales topped £100 million for the first time in 2022/23. Among the major homebuilders, CALA Homes generated the most LBTT receipts: at around four per cent of all LBTT revenue, despite accounting for less than one per cent of total sales activity in the market.
“The highest average new build LBTT bill at any development was at The Old Course in St Andrews, which was over £325,000.”
Picture credit: Place Design Scotland
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