Home buyers across the Richmond borough saved £40.8million as the result of a government stamp duty holiday, it has emerged.

The figure was calculated by London estate agents, Benham and Reeves, who analysed sold price records across nearly 87,000 London property transactions.

The total saving across the capital was put at just over £1billion during a sales boom that saw many estate agents complaining about a lack of properties.

The biggest savings on the property sales tax occurred in Wandsworth at £65.8m ahead of Bromley at £60.4m, followed by Lambeth (£47m), Barnet (£46.1m), and Croydon (£44.1m).

Richmond borough, where average house prices are a mammoth £1.2m came in sixth, ahead of Lewisham (£36.5m), Waltham Forest (£36.3m), Havering (£35.8m) and Southwark (£33m).

The government announced the stamp duty holiday in July 2020 in an effort to help buyers whose finances were affected by Covid.

Until 31 March 2021, home buyers didn't have to pay stamp duty on the first £500,000 of a purchase price. This meant a saving of up to £15,000.

The government later extended the tax holiday until 30 June, and then again until 30 September. During this period home buyers didn't have to pay stamp duty on the first £250,000:

The rates returned to normal on October 1 with the result that sales have fallen back dramatically. The rates that now apply are -

£0-£125,000 = 0%

£125,001-£250,000 = 2%

£250,001-£925,000 = 5%

£925,001-£1,500,000 = 10%

£1,500,001+ = 12%

Director of Benham and Reeves, which has offices in Kew, Marc von Grundherr, said: 'We simply didn't see the mass hysteria of a potential stamp duty saving grip the London market in the same way it did across the rest of the UK, but despite this, London still saw the second largest saving of all regions in England.

'Much of this saving came during the first stage of the holiday when the threshold was more meaningful to the London market but the capital's homebuyer still enjoyed the fourth largest saving during the second phase of the scheme.

'This is fairly impressive given the fact that the region was moving at a far slower pace than the rest of the nation and really demonstrates the value of London bricks and mortar, even when the market isn't firing on all cylinders.

'When analysing the market by borough the pandemic influence of the last 18 months or so is clear to see. Transactions and, as a result, the total stamp duty saving were far higher across London's more peripheral boroughs where buyers were able to buy bigger and with more outdoor space.'