We estimate the effect of the UK Stamp Duty Land Tax on household mobility using micro data. Exploiting a discontinuity in the tax schedule as a quasi-experimental setting, we isolate the impact of the stamp duty from other determinants of mobility. Our empirical strategy essentially compares similar households with self-assessed house values on either sides of a cut-off value where the tax rate increases from 1 to 3 percent. We find that a higher stamp duty strongly negatively affects a household?s propensity to move: the 2 percentage-point increase in the stamp duty may reduce mobility of homeowners by around 40 percent. This adverse effect is mainly confined to short-distance and non-job related moves.

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23 July 2012     Paper Number SERCDP0115

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This SERC/Urban and Spatial Programme Discussion Paper is published under the centre's Urban programme.