Halifax assesses stamp duty holiday success

Posted: 21 Sep 2009 11:08:39 GMT

It is estimated that over a quarter of first-time buyers who purchased a property between September 2008 and August 2009 did not pay stamp duty due to the raised nil-rate threshold.

That is one of the findings from the latest research from Halifax, which also indicated that up to 112,000 people in total have been able to avoid the property tax when buying a home as a result of the stamp duty holiday.

Prime minister Gordon Brown and chancellor Alistair Darling last year opted to raise the lowest stamp duty threshold from £125,000 to £175,000 as the recession took hold in order to try and stimulate the housing market.

In Mr Darling's Budget speech in April, it was announced that this situation would continue until the end of 2009.

Martin Ellis, housing economist at Halifax, commented: "The temporary raising of the lowest stamp duty tax threshold has removed a significant number of homebuyers from the tax net."

He added that this has provided a boost to many homebuyers in what has been a tough economic climate.


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