refnation
Should stamp duty thresholds be raised to boost the housing market?
HousingEnded 19 Sept

Should stamp duty thresholds be raised to boost the housing market?

Yes 81%No 19%1,082 votes cast

In England and Northern Ireland the nil-rate threshold for Stamp Duty Land Tax stands at £125,000 for standard buyers and £300,000 for first-time buyers following its reduction from temporary higher levels in April 2025. House prices have risen substantially since the bands were last permanently adjusted, pulling more transactions into tax and increasing average bills. Industry groups, housebuilders and MPs argue that raising thresholds would cut costs for buyers, boost transactions and support government housebuilding targets ahead of the October 2026 Budget.

Jump to opinions· 28

Stamp duty emerged as the villain of the housing debate, even when the remedy on the ballot was only to raise the thresholds. The floor’s most-respected Yes case called it “the most destructive tax per pound of revenue raised”, while the result delivered a decisive mandate for change.

The winning side was less interested in defending the narrow proposal than in treating it as a down payment on abolition. Another highly rated Yes voice said the tax “incentivises holding on to the same property forever”, a case about mobility, downsizing and the costs imposed by a frozen market.

No voters answered that the benefit would not reach buyers for long. The strongest No argument warned that “tax savings get swallowed up by higher asking prices”, while another cut through the policy’s premise: “it’s the cost of properties.” The two sides were often discussing different markets — one transactions, the other affordability.

That made supply the debate’s harder question, and the No side’s most coherent alternative was blunt: “The problem is entirely the lack of supply.” The vote therefore reads less like an endorsement of a fully worked housing strategy than a clear rejection of transaction tax as the place to draw the line.

The room wanted stamp duty eased now, and many of its strongest voices wanted it abolished next.

“Ideally stamp duty should be completely abolished. It is, according to many studies, the most destructive tax per pound of revenue raised. The damage it causes to the housing market by reducing the level of transactions is massive. Raising the thresholds is a step in the right direction”

YES case · Seneca · 6 respects

“Past stamp duty holidays show that tax savings get swallowed up by higher asking prices, benefiting sellers while doing zero to increase housing supply.”

NO case · BenL · 4 respects

81%
Yes
majority
19% No
Votes1,082
Skipped20
You—

% voting yes, by leaning

53% yes among H. Left voters, 47 of them
55% yes among Left voters, 130 of them
77% yes among C. Left voters, 120 of them
76% yes among Centre voters, 117 of them
86% yes among C. Right voters, 141 of them
88% yes among Right voters, 440 of them
93% yes among H. Right voters, 115 of them
H. Left
Left
C. Left
Centre
C. Right
Right
H. Right
Early result

This referendum settled before 29 September 2026, when refnation's current method began, so its result is a plain count of Yes and No. It is kept here as an archive: refnation's record starts on 29 September 2026.

How results are calculated, and corrections

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Debate

28 Opinions

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Seneca· 534
The Minimal Sovereigntist
Voted yesRight lean

Ideally stamp duty should be completely abolished. It is, according to many studies, the most destructive tax per pound of revenue raised. The damage it causes to the housing market by reducing the level of transactions is massive. Raising the thresholds is a step in the right direction

SamW· 375
The Unsparing Egalitarian
Voted yesH. Left lean

Stamp duty ought to be abolished. It specifically incentivises holding on to the same property forever rather than buying/selling. This makes the housing market inefficient as you get people who would otherwise be happy to move staying put to avoid losing a chunk of their gain to a big one-off tax.

BenL· 608
THE NANNY-STATE ALLERGIC
Voted noC. Left lean

Past stamp duty holidays show that tax savings get swallowed up by higher asking prices, benefiting sellers while doing zero to increase housing supply.

RobThompson· 456
The Statesman
Voted yesH. Left lean

Better would be eliminating stamp duty entirely on people's primary residence, but this would at least be a start

Wisedupwoman· 252
The Homegrown Energy Reformer
Voted yesC. Right lean

If the market has changed then the stamp duty needs to change, simples. We need English people buying their own property. Saving the Government money means more of our taxes go to illegals getting free housing

BunstanceBunnidge· 511
The Open-Hearted Redistributor
Voted noH. Left lean

The problem is entirely the lack of supply, both of affordable housing to buy and decent rental property, especially social housing. We have never recovered from the disastrous failure to replace council housing alongside Right to Buy. Investment needs to be in building and renovation, not stimulating a market that already has stupidly high prices.

Jonathan· 717
The Institution
Voted yesH. Right lean

Remove it completely

Octig· 277
The Civic Traditionalist
Voted noC. Right lean

No stamp duty should be abolished

ChasNewport· 521
The Polymath
Voted yesRight lean

Governments, particularly those on the Left, seldom opt to collect a small transaction tax on a large number of transactions. I don't get the thinking. Encourage active markets, take a small share. That gives everyone an incentive to thrive, unpunished. High taxation is an established lever for dampening undesirable behaviour. But why would moving house be on that list?

PalatinusAugusti· 519
The sound governance custodian
Voted yesRight lean

As a minimum yes. But in truth it should be abolished entirely.