New figures from Hamptons show that ever-rising stamp duty has effectively killed off the idea of flipping.
These properties are typically bought with the intention of being renovated and sold on at a profit – but crucially they are also returned to the housing market as fully-usable homes which can add to the overall housing stock.
Hamptons’ data reveals that the share of homes bought and resold within 12 months fell in 2025 to its lowest level in more than a decade.
HM Land Registry data shows that just 1.5% of all transactions across England & Wales were flipped, down from 2.0% in 2024.
This marks the continuation of a long slowdown that began shortly after the introduction of the second home stamp duty surcharge in 2016, since when the number of flipped homes has halved from 21,520 to 10,570.
Initially set at 3%, the surcharge was raised to 5% in 2024.
In 2015, just one year before the second home surcharge was introduced, the average post-SDLT gross profit on a flipped home stood at £36,500.
This gross profit is defined as the difference between the resale price and the original purchase price, after deducting the upfront stamp duty paid.
By 2025, this had fallen to £16,390.
And that is before refurbishment costs, suggesting that only a minority of flipped properties ultimately deliver a net profit.
As of 2025, 73.3% of flipped homes generated a gross profit.
However, once stamp duty is accounted for, this figure falls to 58.7%, down from a peak of 85.9% in 2006.
Consequently, in 2025, SDLT charges accounted for 43% of gross profit (the difference between the sale and purchase prices), equivalent to £12,400 on the average flip.
Profits briefly picked up during the pandemic due to the SDLT holiday but have since declined.
The decline in flipping profitability since 2015 has varied sharply by region, with the steepest falls concentrated in the South of England, where weaker house price growth and higher stamp duty costs have dented returns.
The South West has seen the sharpest fall, with average post‑SDLT profits down 80.3% since 2015.
By 2025, stamp duty absorbed 71% of the average gross profit in the region, leaving limited scope for investors to generate meaningful returns after tax.
By contrast, the North East was the strongest-performing region in percentage terms, delivering average returns of 36.4% in 2025 (based on resale gains relative to purchase price).
It is also the only region in England where profits after SDLT have risen since 2015, up 27.0%.
Lower house prices in the North East have kept stamp duty bills modest – averaging around £6,000 per flipped property in 2025 – meaning SDLT accounts for just 26.0% of the average gross profit, compared to 45.6% and £30,000 in London.
In fact, 17% of flipped homes in the region were purchased for £40,000 or less and therefore incurred no stamp duty liability.
Aneisha Beveridge, Head of Research at Hamptons, comments: “There was a time when rundown properties could be bought cheaply, refurbished, and resold at a healthy margin.
“Today, however, second home stamp duty absorbs nearly half of all gross profits, significantly eroding returns.
“The surcharge was not primarily intended to penalise ‘house flipping’; its primary aim was to support first‑time buyers.
“While it has largely succeeded in that goal, it has left flipping unviable across much of the South of England.
“These projects deliver much-needed move-in-ready homes, sparing buyers the financial risks and expertise to undertake major works themselves.
“But stamp duty is only part of the challenge.
“Falling house prices across many Southern markets have squeezed returns further, while the cost of materials and labour have risen sharply since the pandemic.
“Even before factoring in stamp duty, refurbishment budgets now stretch much further than they once did, pushing profit margins to their thinnest levels in over a decade.”