MPs back campaign to extend Stamp Duty holiday
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A group of Labour MPs have lent their support to an industry campaign to extend the Stamp Duty holiday beyond December 31.
Properties under £175,000 are currently exempt from the tax but the threshold is due to return to the original £125,000 limit next year.
Last week a group of Labour backbenchers issued an Early Day Motion urging the government to keep the £175,000 threshold as it is to stimulate the housing market and help the economy grow.
MP Lindsay Hoyle raised the motion supported by fellow MPs David Crausby, Jim Dobbin, Jon Cruddas, Bob Laxton, Jeremy Corbyn, Mark Durkan and Bob Spink.
The National Association of Estate Agents and the Association of Residential Letting Agents have been lobbying for reform of the Stamp Duty system since October via a campaign called the 1808 Coalition.
Last month a number of industry trade bodies gave their backing to the campaign, including the Association of Mortgage Intermediaries, the Building Societies Association, and the Council of Mortgage Lenders.
A spokeswoman for the Treasury says there have been no announce-ments to signal that the Stamp Duty exemption will be extended.
Peter Bolton-King, chief execu-tive of the NAEA and ARLA, says: “If the Stamp Duty exemption is not extended at this fragile point of recovery, we fear that months of work will instantly unravel, causing a great deal of damage to the housing market.”
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Readers' comments (2)
Anonymous | 8 Dec 2009 9:24 am
I am in the middle of selling one house and purchasing another and I do not think it is fair if the stamp duty holiday ends on 31.12.09. Estate agents and Solicitors close over the xmas/new year period, hence if I do not try to hurry them up in the next couple of wks I will have to pay the stamp duty. It is no fault of my own that the above organisations close for 2 wks. If they didn't my sale would be completed before the 31.12.09. I think the stamp duty holiday should be extended anyway, but especially for the people who are already in the middle of a sale. They should be exempt from paying the stamp duty if the holiday ends.
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Anonymous | 9 Dec 2009 12:15 pm
My daughter is in the process of buying her first flat. She has worked very hard to acheive this and through no fault of her own the deal will not be completed until after 31.12.09 which means she will have to pay stamp duty if the stamp duty holiday is not extended. This amoun t will make a big difference to her financial situation and really hope the government extend this.
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