Patrick Bamford, head of international business development at Qualis Credit Risk, says buyers with completion dates before the end of October might be asking their conveyancers to...

Prime London buyers could save half a million pounds in Reeves tax overhaul, with seller tax taking 15 years to equal current upfront costs.

Market conditions have already softened since the end of the stamp duty holiday in March.

The total paid so far this year is £8bn – an 21% increase on the £6.6bn paid in the same period last year.

Rachel Reeves is mulling replacing the current stamp duty regime with a new property tax.

Housing market activity has surged, with buyer demand up 11% and agreed sales up 8% year-on-year.

Homebuyers paid over £6bn in stamp duty in first half of the year.

Since January, average prices paid by first-time buyers rose 2.5 times faster than those paid by movers.

First-time buyer and homemover completions increased by 113% and 140% in March.

Despite the slower numbers, there are plenty of reasons to be optimistic, industry experts say.