The introduction of the Stamp Duty surcharge in April of this year has enabled figures to be published for the first time indicating how many such properties are bought.
One in four properties bought in the UK in the third quarter of 2016 was a buy-to-let or a second home, new figures from the tax department show.
The introduction of the 3% Stamp Duty surcharge in April has seen figures published for the first time indicating how many properties are bought to rent out.
The data published by HMRC shows that it has collected some £670m in Stamp Duty since the surcharge was introduced.
Of the total of 235,000 property sales which were subject to stamp duty some 56,100 were liable for the extra 3%, bringing in an extra duty worth £440 million.
The number of additional homes bought in the second quarter of the year, immediately after the surcharge was introduced, was lower but sales in this sector doubled during the third quarter of the year.
Meanwhile, separate data from the Land Registry shows that in England and Wales there were 95,300 residential and commercial property sales submitted for registration in September.
Of these some 70,237 were freehold and 11,497 were newly built while 552 properties over £1m were sold of which 313 were in London.
Terraced homes are still the most popular with 26,050 sold in September, followed by semi-detached with 24,615 sales, detached with 22,763 sales and flats and maisonettes with 19,457 sales.
The most expensive residential sale in September was a semi-detached property in the London Borough of Kensington and Chelsea for £10,915,000 while the cheapest was a flat in Liverpool for £12,000.
The most expensive commercial sale in September 2016 was in the City of London for £32 million and the cheapest were in the London boroughs of Southwark, Enfield and Tower Hamlets, each for £1,000.
