The Conservative Party has pledged to get rid of the stamp duty land tax if they won the next general election.<\/p>\n
This would apply to primary residences, meaning investors would still have to pay the tax.<\/p>\n
Stamp duty is commonly blamed on disincentivizing transactions, including preventing older people in larger homes from downsizing.<\/p>\n
Kemi Badenoch, leader of the Conservative Party, said: \u201cStamp duty is a bad tax.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe must free up our housing market, because a society where no one can afford to buy or move is a society where social mobility is dead.\u201d<\/p>\n
Badenoch was speaking at the end of the Conservative Party conference, where she set out a vision of being in a country where \u201cprofit is not a dirty word\u201d and where government \u201cdoes less but does it better\u201d.<\/p>\n
She added: \u201cWe believe that owning your own home gives you a real stake in society, roots in your community. But our housing market is not working as it should,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is a big barrier that keeps getting in the way.\u201d<\/p>\n
Badenoch\u2019s speech comes after the Labour Party administration were also reportedly thinking of axing stamp duty, replacing it with an annual property tax on homes worth more than \u00a3500,000.<\/p>\n
\t <\/p>\n
The Conservatives made a \u201ccautious\u201d estimate that scrapping stamp duty would cost around \u00a39bn by the end of the decade.<\/p>\n
Based on the effects of the previous \u2018stamp duty holiday\u2019 periods \u2013 where the money buyers had to pay was lower for a set period \u2013 it\u2019s likely that getting rid of the tax would result in an immediate uplift in activity, likely pushing up house prices in the process.<\/p>\n
The tax has long been an unpopular one in the property industry.<\/p>\n
Jeremy Leaf, north London estate agent and a former RICS residential chairman, said: \u201cWe welcome the Conservatives\u2019 announcement that stamp duty is to be abolished.<\/p>\n
\u201cStamp duty may have proven to be\u00a0an excellent revenue raiser but is also a deterrent to mobility, upsizing\/downsizing\u00a0and economic growth. Stamp duty reduces liquidity and distorts pricing in the existing homes, as well as new-build, market.<\/p>\n
\u201cGenuine first-time buyers shouldn\u2019t pay \u2013 they are the engine room of the housing market helping to unlock transactions further up chains.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut be careful what you wish for. The revenue generated by this hugely unpopular tax will have to be replaced \u2013 but there must be a better way.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe certainly need an urgent\u00a0debate to determine what alternative is going to have least impact on activity.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Conservative Party has pledged to get rid of the stamp duty land tax if they won the next general election. This would apply to primary residences, meaning investors would still have to pay the tax. Stamp duty is commonly blamed on disincentivizing transactions, including preventing older people in larger homes from downsizing. Kemi Badenoch, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4378,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4377","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-second-home"],"yoast_head":"\n