Osborne’s stamp duty hike has seen house sales drop by a FIFTH

PROPERTY sales have slumped by almost a fifth in the year since George Osborne’s stamp duty hike on buyto- let and second homes, official figures show.

Land Registry data reveals the tax rises – alongside higher stamp duty for expensive properties – have ‘shattered’ the housing market.

Mr Osborne, the then chancellor, introduced a 3 per cent stamp duty surcharge in April last year to cool the booming buyto-let market amid fears it was fuelling a dangerous property bubble.

But property experts and estate agents have complained this has damaged the housing market in wealthier pockets of the country where property values have been propped up by investors buying second homes.

Britain’s biggest lender, Nationwide, revealed last week that house prices across the country have been falling for the past three months – the first time this has happened since the financial crisis in 2009 – which it also blamed on the stamp duty changes.

Yesterday, Land Registry data showed that property sales have fallen by 19 per cent in the 12 months since the surcharge was introduced, and by 33 per cent in London. There were 801,694 properties sold in England and Wales between April last year

‘They shattered the market’

and March this year compared with 983,781 in the year before the higher levies were introduced.

Sales of properties worth £2million or more, which have seen their stamp duty rate soar, have slumped by a third from 2,539 to 1,701 in London.

Separate analysis of data from property website Zoopla shows higher-value properties are going unsold, with just 9 per cent of properties on sale above £2million currently under offer compared to 39 per cent across all listed properties in England and Wales.

But estate agent Nested, which combed through the figures, claimed that anything worth more than £500,000 was struggling to sell outside the capital.

Matt Robinson, chief executive of Nested, said: ‘The evidence is now crystal clear – the Government’s stamp duty land tax reforms shattered the property market. This may have slowed rising house prices, but it has also stopped sales going through and left many people stuck in their current property.’

A separate report from the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors said many buyers and sellers are also adopting a ‘wait and see’ approach ahead of the general election today. It reported a drop in enquiries from new buyers as well as new instructions from those wanting to sell in May.

Labour’s plans for a ‘garden tax’ have led to fears that prices could fall sharply if Jeremy Corbyn gets into power.

The manifesto proposal will see council tax and business rates replaced with a 3 per cent levy based on land value that could see council tax bills treble for homes with gardens.

The Tories claim that this would cost £3,837 per year for the average home – more than three times the £1,185 council tax they pay now.