Strutt & Parker suffers after stamp duty hikes rock London housing market

Upmarket estate agent Strutt & Parker on Friday revealed the damage stamp duty hikes have wrought upon the business, as it posted a fall in sales and profits.

Strutt & Parker’s Andy Martin said: “For the first time since taking over as senior partner [in 2009], I am reporting a decline in year-on-year trading.”

The firm, which is selling a £22 million home on Queen Anne’s Gate, said raising stamp duty rates to 12% for homes worth more than £1.5 million “had particular ramifications for the London market”.

Martin added that the introduction this year of a 3% additional stamp-duty rate on property bought as a second home had “affected confidence”.

Pre-EU referendum jitters also hurt Strutt & Parker, and sales fell 3% to £107.7 million in the year to April 30.

Pre-tax profits tumbled from £28 million to £18.3 million.

But the firm praised its commercial property division, and said the company has diversified to provide more services.