Nicholas Leeming, major client director at propertyfinder.com, says measures must be taken to push housing transactions. “In next week’s budget we want to see reform of stamp duty,” he saids. “With the housing market now yielding so little to the Treasury, this is a golden opportunity to soften the cudgel of this iniquitous tax without affecting the government’s overall tax take significantly. We don’t want another stamp duty holiday announcement, we need a more radical and longstanding move that will actually help tempt people back into the market and increase housing transactions - these are the lifeblood of the market.
“Another welcome addition would be to exempt the main home of residence from inheritance tax. By allowing inheritance to be passed through the family and used by grandchildren to buy first homes of their own, the government will be making another much needed move. The whole housing market would benefit from getting more people in at the bottom.”
SmartNewHomes.com has called for Alistair Darling to look at the wider picture of future economic recovery and focus initiatives on improving housing supply which, it says, has fallen to dangerously low levels as a result of falling house prices and the collapse of mortgage lending.
David Bexon, managing director of SmartNewHomes.com, commented: “The government has pumped billions of pounds into the banking sector with the aim of giving mortgage lending a shot in the arm. While there are now tentative signs of improvement in mortgage availability, any impact resulting from government intervention has taken far too long to filter through and aid developers.
“New home starts have been severely damaged by the lack of mortgage finance and the resulting house price decline. As things stand, developers will be neither financially or personnel equipped to meet the current pent-up demand once the market begins its recovery.
“I urge the Chancellor to allocate funds to developments that have been held up due to the credit crunch, offer support for developers in their obligations to deliver social housing, and remove some of the red-tape that works to delay the planning process.”
What would you like the Chancellor to do in next week’s Budget? Let me know at [email protected]
