Industry bodies come together to campaign for Stamp Duty reform
Share
The Association of Mortgage Intermediaries, the Council of Mortgage Lenders and the Building Societies Association have all thrown their weight behind a campaign to scrap Stamp Duty in its current form.
The campaign, dubbed the 1808 Coalition, has been set up by the National Association of Estate Agents and the Association of Residential Letting Agents.
The organisations believe Stamp Duty is an anachronistic tax which is preventing a recovery in the housing sector.
The campaign is named after the year Stamp Duty was first extended to property sales.
According to the 1808 Coalition, the government should either scrap Stamp Duty or implement one of three strategies.
The first option would be for the government to suspend Stamp Duty for the duration of the housing downturn while making a commitment to review the existing system.
Second, it could reform the system, moving from the present slab-based approach to a more progressive slice system which, like other taxes, would be linked to inflation.
Third, the campaign suggests the starting threshold for Stamp Duty should be raised well above the current £175,000 figure.
The present Stamp Duty holiday for properties sold for less than £175,000 is due to expire on December 31.
Mortgage Strategy has its own long-running campaign to reform the tax called Step Up Stamp Duty. Over the years thousands of readers have supported this.
Peter Bolton King, chief executive of the NAEA, says: “With the Pre-Budget Report due soon, this is the time for the government to take action.”
And Robert Sinclair, director of AMI, says: “It is rare that the breadth of our industry comes together in this way. But Stamp Duty is distorting the market to such an extent that we have to speak out.”
If you enjoyed this article, sign up here to receive daily email updates from Mortgage Strategy and Follow @mortgagestrat
