More breathing space over stamp duty

Following his recent budget, Alistair Darling, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, revealed that the break on stamp duty on properties up to a certain value was to be extended until the end of this year.

The stamp duty break was brought in last year in hope of aiding the struggling property market by increasing affordability. It meant that purchasers could escape paying any stamp duty at all on properties up to £175,000, whereas previously the limit had been £125,000.

According to Darling the stamp duty break means that around 60 percent of property purchasers will not have to pay stamp duty as long as they purchase whilst the scheme is still in place.

However, many industry officials have said that Darling needs to take the scheme a step further, adding that buyers in certain areas, such as London, will not be able to benefit because of the higher value of properties there, which means that the chances of finding a property that falls within the value thresholds is practically impossible.

One industry expert said: ‘To have ignored the opportunity to remove stamp duty up to the £250k threshold is a massive oversight and an opportunity lost to kick start the all-important lower end of the property market. Merely extending the stamp duty holiday for properties worth less than £175,000 is nothing short of a travesty. Bold measures were required to stimulate the property market but they were resoundingly absent in this Budget.’

Following the budget the Council of Mortgage Lenders stated: ‘Although today’s Budget measures will have little short-term impact on the housing and mortgage markets, they do at least remove some of the uncertainties associated with the potential impact of withdrawing stamp duty and mortgage support concessions too early, and provide some relief to support the new-build housing market.’