3. Will the Minister make a statement on the phasing out of the nil rate band of land transaction tax on residential property transactions up to £250,000? OQ56456

Yes. The land transaction tax temporary reduction period has been extended to 30 June to help those taxpayers who may have encountered delays in completing their home purchases before 1 April. From 1 July, the standard rates of land transaction tax will apply.

I refer to phasing out, but, unlike what the UK Government is doing in England and Northern Ireland, we don't have any taper in Wales. Why has the Minister made that decision, and why does she consider it right that people buying houses between £180,000 and £250,000 in Wales should pay 3.5 per cent on that part of the transaction, when those same purchases would be nil rated in England or Northern Ireland?

Well, we have a different housing market here in Wales, and we've shown that, actually, in terms of transactions and revenues from land transaction tax, the market is much more buoyant here than it is across the border. The increase in the zero-rate band for those paying the main residential rates to £250,000 from £180,000 will, as I say, come to an end in July. But, even then, we will still have the most generous and progressive form of support for house buyers, which isn't, of course, limited to first-time house buyers here in Wales either. We took those decisions because the housing market is different here in Wales, and we've reflected that within the decisions that we've taken. House prices in England are very different, so that means, on average, the benefit can be up to, or increasing up to or above £12,000, whereas here the maximum is £2,500. So, I think that the kind of scale of the challenge in terms of house prices is very different.

Thanks for that answer, Minister. I think Mark Reckless has raised a very good point in terms of how we get the housing market going in Wales. I hear what you're saying about the housing market being different here from across the border, but nonetheless it still needs that stimulus that the UK Government are seeking to do by applying the nil rate band until the end of 2021. Can I ask you, Minister, that you look at this again and keep it under review and act on the evidence? Because I am concerned that, certainly in some parts of Wales, this policy may have more of a negative impact than in others, and I do think that there is a case for extending relief as long as possible until the economy gets back on its feet.

Well, all of these rates and bands across the Welsh taxes are kept constantly under review. The extension of the LTT reduction is expected to benefit around 4,000 additional homebuyers here in Wales, and up to and including January, around 10,000 homebuyers have already benefited from the temporary reduction that I announced last year. So, a significant number of households have already benefited from it, and actually only around a quarter of house buyers at the moment are actually paying any land transaction tax as a result of the decisions taken last year in this respect. But, as I say, when the normal—if you like—rates do return, we will still have a relatively generous situation here in Wales.