Wales has followed the lead of England and Northern Ireland by introducing its own Stamp Duty holiday but it won’t start for a couple of weeks and doesn’t apply to landlords.

The Welsh Government announced the threshold for its land transaction tax will rise on July 27 from £180,000 to £250,000 until March 31 2021.

Finance minister Rebecca Evans said around 80% of home buyers liable for the main rates of land transaction tax will not pay any tax. This will be a tax reduction of £2,450 per transaction.

House prices on average are considerably lower in Wales at £162,000 compared with £248,000 in England.

However, unlike in England and Northern Ireland, this tax reduction will not apply to purchases on additional properties including buy to let and second homes.

Scotland is due to increase the threshold on its land and buildings transaction tax  from £145,000 to £250,000 from today but it is so far unclear if this will apply to additional properties.

Evans said the savings made by adopting these temporary rates in Wales will release £30m in new funding to support the construction of new, energy efficient social housing in Wales.

She said: “This tax holiday will help first time buyers as well as those selling to move on, but we are taking a different direction to support jobs and house building in Wales.

“While eliminating taxes for those that need extra help, the tax holiday rate also reduces the tax paid on more expensive properties to help the wider housing market.

“Under these changes more than three quarters of home buyers will pay no tax at all, an increase of 20% under our current measures.

“By setting these rates for Wales I am also able to confirm £30m to support the construction of new social housing and the much needed jobs they can deliver.”

Commenting on the changes, Sean Randall, a tax partner at Blick Rothenberg, said: “Home buyers in England and Northern Ireland may feel aggrieved that the tax break gives an edge to landlords, pushing up house prices.

“This likely to be the case too for home-buyers in Scotland though, the draft legislation has not been published yet.

“But home buyers in Wales will have some protection. A major distinction with the Welsh Stamp Duty holiday is that it does not apply to purchases of ‘additional’ dwellings by individuals and purchases of dwellings by companies. Presumably, this is also intended to prevent buyers of second-homes in Wales from enjoying the holiday.”