5. Will the Minister provide an update on revenues from the land transaction tax? OQ55535

Land transaction tax revenues in 2019-20 were £260 million. To date, revenues in the current financial year are down 47 per cent compared to the same period last year. The Office for Budget Responsibility will publish a new revenue forecast for the Welsh Government with the draft budget.

Thank you, Minister. The drop in land transaction tax revenue by 47 per cent, I think you said, is indeed worrying but understandable during the lockdown, due to the massive slowdown in the housing market. Getting revenues up depends on getting the market moving, I'm sure you're aware of that. Whilst I welcome your introduction of a stamp duty holiday, I have questioned the threshold of £250,000 that has been introduced. Now, whilst I understand that house prices across Wales are, on average, considerably lower than across the border, certainly compared with the south-east of England, there are nonetheless houses much higher in value than that near the Wales-England border. Will you keep the stamp duty holiday under review, so that if the housing market near the border isn't seen to be picking up as fast as the other side of the border, where there is that holiday of up to £500,000, then action can be taken? Because I'm sure you'd agree with me that it's important that land transaction tax rates in Wales are stabilised and that there isn't too much of a distortion in border areas, where a large proportion of the Welsh population live and where revenue is raised.

Yes, I do keep all rates and thresholds under review, always looking to the market to see what's happening. It is the case, I think—and Nick will agree with me on this—that tax only plays a part in the decision regarding somebody's choice as to where to live, and I'm sure that he will think of 1,000 wonderful reasons to live in his constituency of Monmouthshire as well, but I do understand that house prices in Monmouthshire are much higher than in other parts of the country. 

We do have the opposite situation, then, of course, across the border in north Wales, where houses in Flintshire and Wrexham, for example, are around 25 per cent lower than across the border in Cheshire west, Cheshire and Shropshire. So we do see a very differential picture across Wales, but, yes, I do keep these issues under constant review.