Stamp Duty Holiday

The government has now agreed a one year stamp duty holiday on Properties between £125,000 and £175,000

Stamp duty on residential property raised nearly £6.5bn in the financial year ending in April 2007. Of that just under £1.4 billion came from the lowest 15 stamp duty band - covering homes valued between £125 and £250 thousand. We have supported the lifting of the stamp duty threshold to £250,000 and believe that a stamp duty holiday of one year would provide a much needed boost to the market as was the case in the early 1990.

It is unfortunate that the government did not extend the stamp duty threshold to £250,000 as opposed to £175,000. However, in the current economic climate it appears unlikely that the Government will reduce the stamp duty threshold back to £125,000 in September 2009.