Government should extend stamp duty holiday

 Extending the stamp duty holiday past its December 31st cut-off point prevent "an unwelcome pause in the housing market", according to National Association of Estate Agents president Gray Smith.

He claimed that it is a "short-sighted policy" to bring the stamp duty threshold back down to £125.000 from its current level of £175,000 because recent property market momentum could be lost.

"We can only hope that common sense will prevail and that the government will raise the lowest level at which stamp duty will apply to £175,000 for an indefinite period," Mr Smith explained.

The government first raised the threshold in 2008 as the UK moved into recession. Chancellor Alistair Darling then announced during his April 2009 budget that the policy would remain in place until the end of the year.

Recent surveys from a number of financial service providers have indicated that thousands of property buyers have benefited from the tax threshold being raised.

13 November 2009

The information contained within this article was correct at the date of publishing and is not guaranteed to remain correct in the present day.

Back

Posts by date

Sign up for updates

By using this form, you agree with the storage and handling of your data in accordance with GDPR for the sole purpose of communication. We respect your privacy and will not share your data with third parties. For more information, please view our Privacy Policy.

cwtch tile

Festive opening hours 2024

Festive opening hours 2024

Festive opening hours 2024

Please find our festive opening days and hours below: Woodville Road, Cathays branch Mon 23rd Dec: 9.30am - 2pm Christmas Eve: CLOSED Christmas Day: CLOSED Boxing Day: CLOSED Fri 27th Dec: 9.30am - 2pm Sat 28th Dec: …