Emma Pooley

Economics (Bailrigg) | Year 4 | Degree: BSc Economics Hons (Industry)

What effect did the Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) Holiday have on the UK (United Kingdom) housing market and did it create a housing bubble?

On 1st July 2020, what was known as a ‘Stamp Duty Holiday’ (SDLT) was implemented, and since then the housing market has seen soaring prices and unprecedented demand. Using existing statistical methods employed by academics, I will test whether there has been evidence of a housing bubble over the past 18 months following the implementation of the SDLT holiday. The effects of the SDLT holiday are yet to be seen in the long run and so this provides an area to add contribution to the literature. I will compare the results to that of semi-structured interviews conducted on senior managers of a conveyancing company to conclude the overall impacts of the SDLT holiday on the UK housing market. Housing bubbles have been heavily researched within Economics with several definitions being applied to them.However, there has been little academic research into the effect of property taxes, and specifically the UK SDLT and its effect on the housing market or its link to housing bubbles.