6. Will the Minister provide an update on the land transaction tax holiday that is in place in Wales until 31 March 2021? OQ55938

The intended effect of the temporary changes to land transaction tax was to encourage transactions in the housing market during the remainder of this financial year. The latest LTT data show positive trends in transactions and tax revenue compared to the early months of this financial year.

A report earlier this month by Halifax revealed that the average UK house price is now £250,000. This came on top of a report last month by Nationwide that found that UK house prices were rising at their fastest rate for five years, and this has been partly attributed to a rush to buy ahead of the end of England's stamp duty holiday next spring, whereas in Wales we've adopted a much fairer and more progressive approach through the land transaction tax, which better reflects the nature of our housing market. Can the Minister confirm today, with that in mind, as we approach the end of the LTT holiday here in Wales, that the Welsh Government will set out its plans to engage with key stakeholders throughout the process to avoid an increase in prices that would put pressure on affordable housing in the northern areas of the constituency that I represent?

Thank you to Hefin David for raising that particular issue. As we move towards the end of the year, obviously I'll be keen to hear views from colleagues in the Chamber, and also engaging with stakeholders as well about the potential future of land transaction tax. Obviously, I'm keen not to make announcements too far in advance, because then you end up with situations where there's forestalling and people changing the timing of their purchase in order to get the most advantageous deal, which is completely an understandable thing to do, but if you're using tax to try and drive a certain behaviour, then it obviously has some issues there.

So, obviously we're completely committed to transparency on our tax policy, and I'd been keen to have some further discussions with Hefin David about the particular implications and effects of tax changes within his own constituency, particularly in the north of the Caerphilly area.

Minister, we've welcomed the land transaction tax cut, albeit temporary and less generous than is the case in England. It's been our long-standing policy, of course, to raise the land transaction tax threshold to £250,000 for first-time buyers on a permanent basis, not just on a temporary basis. What consideration have you given to making this a permanent change in land transaction tax duty?

There are very good reasons for having different thresholds in Wales as compared to England, and those are most notably around the fact that average house prices are very different here in Wales. So, the average house price in England is currently £262,000, and in Wales it is well below that, around £165,000. So, they are clearly very different housing markets and I think it's entirely appropriate to have different thresholds for land transaction tax to reflect that.