Property groups sign up to stamp duty campaign

Posted: 16 Nov 2009 10:23:46 GMT

Property groups in the UK have given their support to the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) and Association of Residential Letting Agents' (Arla) scheme to encourage the government to modernise the stamp duty landscape.

The National Landlords Association, Association of Mortgage Intermediaries, Building Societies Association, Council of Mortgage Lenders and Home Builders Federation have all joined the so-called 1808 Coalition.

All members of the campaign group agree that changes need to be made to the property tax, which is incurred when buying homes for £175,000 or more.

From the start of next year, the tax threshold will fall to its pre-recession level of £125,000.

Peter Bolton-King, chief executive of the NAEA, said: "The coalition believes that stamp duty is an anachronistic tax which, in its current form, is preventing a recovery in the housing sector."

Operations manager of Arla Ian Potter added that stamp duty affects those who want to buy homes, as well as the property chain as a whole.


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