Property transactions fell by 5.7% year-on-year in February, HMRC figures have revealed.

The taxman’s latest UK propertytransactions statistics shows there were 86,080 sales in February, up 4.7% on January 2017 but down annually.

Explaining the figures, HMRC cites the additional Stamp Duty rates among other factors.

Commentary in the HMRC report says: “Non-tax factors may have played a role as well, for example the Bank of England’s plans to curb buy-to-let mortgages resulting in a rush to purchase before April 2016, and the EU Referendum affecting transactions in recent months.”

For those interested in seasonal adjustment, residential property transactions decreased by 0.7% between January 2017 and February 2017 to 103,910.

Commenting on the figures, Brian Murphy, head of lending for the Mortgage Advice Bureau, said: “A month on month increase, given that we are moving towards the Spring market, which is normally one of the busier times in the year for property transactions, will probably not come as a surprise to most in the industry.

“The year on year decrease against what was an exceptionally busy February in 2016, as has been previously noted by various industry bodies, due to the last-minute rush on buy-to-let ahead of the change in SDLT rates, actually potentially presents a market which is still very busy.

“Interestingly, if we compare the same unadjusted data for February 2015, which is largely considered by most industry commentators as a ‘normal’ period, we can see the level of UK transactions stood at 78,540, which means that February 2017 has seen an 8.75% increase on a ‘normal’ year, suggesting that the current market in 2017 remains healthy regardless of the current political and economic climate.”