As he puts the finishing touches to his Autumn Statement, the BSA has urged the Chancellor not to forget the thousands of other aspiring home owners who won't benefit from the schemes the Government announced yesterday, not to mention those who are already facing issues paying their mortgage.
The BSA hopes to see included in the Autumn Statement:
- Confirmation that the stamp duty holiday for first-time buyers purchasing properties up to £250,000 will be retained. Uncertainty or reinstatement of this tax will provide an additional disincentive to aspiring home owners and an unnecessary brake on an already troubled market.
- An announcement that the structure of stamp duty will be reviewed in the near future with the intention of removing the house price and market distortions generated by the current 'slab' approach.
- Help for those having difficulty paying their mortgage through a simple change to the current 'Support for Mortgage Interest' scheme. The BSA advocates that the rate of interest paid to borrowers in difficulty should be de-linked from the Bank of England's published Annual Mortgage Rate and instead reflect the actual rate of interest payable on the mortgage.
- Similarly it is illogical that this assistance is currently available only in relation to first charge mortgages when consumers could lose their homes as a result of other loans secured on their property.
“Government obviously has limited budget available and considerable calls on it. However, some simple changes, plus certainty and consistency in some areas, would do much to improve consumer sentiment for the year ahead."
