Tag Archives: SDLT

The Marching Morons* of the Residential Property Market

Budget 2020: Conspicuously absent of any reforms on the parlous SDLT escalator, apart from a much unneeded surcharge for foreign buyers

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Here was a golden opportunity missed by the new Chancellor, to get the Residential Property Market off its knees, by reviewing the Stamp Duty Escalator, imposed by former Chancellor Osborne, in 2014.

According to the OBR (Office for Budget Responsibility), Osborne claimed that the Stamp Duty Receipts in 2014 i.e. £14.5billion would, as a result of his reforms, be £19.5billion in 2020, but instead, turned out to be a paltry £12.5billion.

In effect, that these measures cost the Treasury £1billion in lost tax and was an eye watering 50% prediction error, which is an unacceptable overstatement. Continue reading →

Switching stamp duty from buyers to sellers could upset loan to value ratio for mortgages

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It’s always gratifying to see one’s ideas vindicated in reality – a kind of benign schadenfreude, if you like. This week, Sajid Javid mooted that he could switch Stamp Duty (SDLT) from buyers to sellers, which is a version of what I have been advocating for a number of years, particularly if the rate is significantly lowered.

Clearly, there is an intention of the new Tory regime to end the stagnation and distortion of the Residential Property Market, which was instigated by the witless former Chancellor George Osborne and his Stamp Duty escalator ‘reforms’ in the Autumn Budget of 2014. Continue reading →

George Osborne’s Autumn Statement 2015 – A Wish List

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When our esteemed Chancellor, George Osborne, stands up at the Ballot Box for his Autumn Statement in the Commons this year this is what we would, ideally, like him to address.

The housing market, particularly in London, is grinding to a halt burdened by the huge weight of the SDLT charges that were imposed in last year’s Autumn Statement. Continue reading →