One of the UK’s leading estate agents is calling on the government to cut stamp duty in order to provide a boost for house buyers after new data revealed a post-Brexit slowdown in the property market.
Haart said that UK house prices fell 1.1% in September from the previous month to £226,229.
To reverse this post-Brexit slump the estate agent is now urging the government to overturn the negative stamp duty hikes aimed at buy-to-let investors and at the top-end of the scale.
Paul Smith, CEO of haart estate agents, said: “Action needs to be taken to reverse the sluggish pace of activity, to turn these initial engagements with the property market into transactions. A greater injection of confidence and stability is also important for housebuilders, in order to reassure them they will get good margins on the potential sale price of new homes if they start building again, particularly crucial in order to reach the ambitious housebuilding targets that Sajid Javid has set.
“This month’s monitor shows landlords are starting to return to the market despite the extra 3% hike in stamp duty imposed by George Osborne. This is a positive that needs to be encouraged, especially considering the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors suggests 1.8 million more households will be looking to rent by 2025 and yet 85% of landlords have no plans to increase their portfolios.”
Stamp duty is a progressive tax that you start paying on properties worth more than £125,000. As the price of the property increases, so does the rate of stamp duty.
In December 2014 the government scrapped the old slab structure and introduced a new banding system to help benefit anyone purchasing a home priced under £937,500. Those buying a home above this amount now face a bigger tax bill.
You now pay 0% up to £125,000; 2% to £250,000; 5% to £925,000; 10% to £1.5million and 12% above that.
The government also introduced a 3% stamp duty increase on second homes on 1 April this year to curb the buy-to-let market and free up property for first-time buyers.
Last month Yorkshire Building Society called on the government to reform stamp duty land tax so it is paid by sellers not buyers, removing the tax burden entirely for more than 225,000 people getting on the housing ladder every year.
The Society said that changing property tax rules in this way could save first-time buyers in the UK (excluding Scotland) an average of £3,791, with Londoners saving the most at an average of £13,171.
