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Stamp Duty Rises to £175,000
The Government announced this week that Stamp Duty would be axed for 12 months on all properties costing less than £175,000. The previous limit was £125,000.
All properties sold from Wednesday morning of this week are now only taxed at the 1% threshold for Stamp Duty if they sold for more than £175,000. The increase means a saving of £1,750 for someone buying a £175,000 property.
Tony Rice of specialist mortgage brokers TMP Mortgage Zone said, "This is a sensible measure and should go some way to restoring confidence in the housing market and get people moving again. The estate agents I talk to in Bedfordshire are telling me that buyers are putting in low offers, but sellers are not accepting them if they don't have to move. As a result the market has slowed down considerably so any measure to help is welcome."
Other measures announced this week by the Government include a new initiative called HomeBuy Direct, aimed at helping first time buyers with household earnings of less than £60,000 a year to get on the property ladder with a free charge loan for five years of up to 30% of the value of the property.
[ 05-09-2008 ]
