13 November 2009

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 tas threshold being raised.