Estate agent calls for stamp duty changes

Posted: 16 Oct 2009 09:34:27 GMT

Stamp duty "has been a major impediment" to those looking to move house, according to an estate agent.

>Douglas & Gordon director Ed Mead commented that prospective movers may be deterred by the costs associated with home information packs and stamp duty, which in turn has "decimated" other jobs associated with settling into a new home, such as painters, movers, solicitors, estate agents and surveyors.

He described stamp duty as a "backwards step" and suggested that a better solution would be to return the tax to one per cent of the value of a property, which could make moving house more affordable.

Figures compiled by Halifax last month suggested that 31 per cent of all property buyers have been exempt from the tax thanks to the stamp duty holiday.

It suggested that of first-time buyers, 27 per cent have not had to pay stamp duty on their properties between September 2008 and August 2009.


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