The Money Stop

The housing industry has reacted angrily to Gordon brown’s failure to raise the lower threshold for stamp duty.

Some experts had been hoping that the Chancellor would introduce a higher threshold so that it would be in line with the average UK house price.

The average person now has to get a mortgage above £125,000 lower stamp duty threshold as house prices have risen dramatically in recent years.

However, Mr Brown failed to offer a break to people looking to buy a home in this bracket, meaning that almost all property buyers are now required to pay at least one per cent stamp duty.

“House price inflation remains a key concern for everyone in the UK, particularly first-time buyers and so it is disappointing that this year’s budget has not addressed the UK’s out of date stamp duty thresholds,” commented Duncan Berry, director of mortgage sales at GE Money.

The Chancellor’s promise to completely do away with stamp duty on carbon-neutral homes up to a value of £500,000 however, has bee welcomed, although Nationwide has highlighted that Mr Brown is letting down the poorest in society.

“We feel that it is important to do more to help hard-pressed homebuyers,” said Stuart Bernau from Nationwide.

“We have calculated that if the stamp duty threshold had been raised in line with house price inflation since 1993 it would now stand at £206,000.”

Related Posts

London property purchasers being hit hard by stamp duty

A recent report has highlighted just how hard property purchasers in the London area are being hit when it comes to stamp duty. The extortionate cost of buying a property in London means that buyers

Government suspends stamp duty on homes up to £175,000

Early last week the government announced that it was suspending stamp duty for twelve months on homes up to the value of £175,000. Stamp duty is not applicable on homes up to £125,000 anyway, but

Fifth paying higher stamp duty

Almost a fifth of us are being forced to pay stamp duty at higher rates because house prices are soaring.That is according to Halifax which says that the government should act by moving the stamp

Stamp duty ‘puts off’ first time buyers

Bradford & Bingley says that stamp duty, a charge which many buyers must pay on top of the fee for their new home, is putting off first time buyers (FTBs).Terming stamp duty a 'stealth tax'

Stamp duty takes its toll on first time buyers

Rocketing house prices mean that hardly any properties in the south of England are selling for less than the stamp duty threshold. A new survey from Halifax found that in 2007, the average first-time buyer

Stamp duty shows record increase

The total value of stamp duty generated by the sale of residential property rose by a record level during the year 2006 to 2007, a new report has said.According to Halifax, HMRC figures reveal that

Stamp duty is “big financial barrier”

The tax man is expected to reap the rewards of Gordon Brown's final Budget with an additional £1.4 billion expected to enter his coffers as a result of stamp duty alone.It comes as the Chancellor

Stamp duty rumours spark further slowdown in housing market

Over recent months the housing market in the UK has experienced a real slump, with house prices falling and property sales falling to their lowest level in many years. Property sales and housing transactions have