Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effect on people on lower incomes of the (a) reduction in stamp duty and (b) increase in house prices in response to the covid-19 outbreak.

Property transactions fell by as much as 50 per cent during the COVID-19 lockdown, and this downturn in the market meant that the future was uncertain for many people whose jobs relied on custom from the property industry. The temporary increase in the Stamp Duty Land Tax nil rate band was designed to immediately support the market, and jobs which rely on the sector.