21 November 2013
George Osborne’s coffers have been boosted by a surge in the amount of stamp duty being paid by home-buyers, official figures showed today.
The booming housing market brought in £1.2 billion, up £400 million on last year, in stamp duty which falls most heavily on London and the South-East.
In another windfall, VAT revenues were up £600 million, said the Office for National Statistics.
Nearly £200 million came off October’s public sector borrowing compared to the same month last year. Excluding bank bailouts, it dropped from £8.24 billion to £8.08 billion. Samuel Tombs, of Capital Economics, said the borrowing figures were a “little disappointing”.
