Stamp duty holiday spurs rise in house sales

August saw house sales rise by 15.6% across the UK after the Government introduced a temporary stamp duty holiday. Sales rose by 15.6% in the month after climbing by 14.5% in July, figures from HMRC reveal. The tax break, which will last until March 31 2021, saw an estimated 81,280 sales take place in August and also helped to protect nearly 750,000 jobs in the housing sector and wider supply chain. However transactions were still down by 16.3% compared with the same month in 2019, figures show. Joshua Elash, director of property lender MT Finance, said: “The significant rise in house sales in August compared with the previous month reflects a positive response to the Chancellor's stamp duty initiative in the short term but sadly, it is not sustainable.”