Higher stamp duty for buy-to-let investors and second home buyers increased tax revenue for the Treasury and did not dent property transactions, figures from HMRC suggest.

A 3% surcharge on the basic rates of stamp duty for all purchases of additional residential property — that not intended to be the buyer's main residence — was introduced on 1 April, 2016. It was intended to cool the buy-to-let market and reduce competition for first-time buyers.

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Tax office figures for the April to June quarter of 2016 show the estimated yield for the Treasury from higher stamp duty was £1.977bn ($2.6bn), 13% higher than the previous three months and a 28% rise on the same quarter a year before. Of that, £424m was from the additional stamp duty rate.

There were 208,000 property transactions liable for stamp duty during the second quarter, of which 30,200 were additional properties subject to the new tax. This was a 1% rise in liable transactions quarter-on-quarter and 10% higher year-on-year. The bulk of the properties liable for additional stamp duty, 20,700, were worth less than £250,000, the lowest price bracket.

"It may be too early to call but it seems the government's changes aren't putting off buyers from snapping up those additional properties," said Andrew Bridges, managing director of Stirling Ackroyd. "It seems buy-to-let investors are still primarily competing with first-time buyers for lower value properties. As we enter a post-Brexit property market, the government may have to look again at the surcharge and assess whether it is helping or hindering the market."

"It seems buy-to-let investors are still primarily competing with first-time buyers for lower value properties. As we enter a post-Brexit property market, the government may have to look again at the surcharge and assess whether it is helping or hindering the market."