The CML has also called on the Government to commit now to reforming the tax over the life of the next Parliament.
The CML and a plethora of lenders and other commentators have claimed that stamp duty is a stealth tax that now affects three quarters of first-time buyers, compared with around a quarter when Labour came to power in 1997. The CML stated in research commissioned two years ago that it would be possible to change to a graduated structure with a starting threshold as high as £115,000 at 2001/02 prices (around £160,000 at today's prices), and still maintain revenue levels for the Exchequer.
Michael Coogan, CML Director General, commented: "The Government says it wants to help first-time buyers, and the most obvious way to do this is to reduce the burden of stamp duty on them. Research from various sources shows how dramatically stamp duty has increased in terms of the proportion of transactions it affects. The Government really has no excuse for allowing the ease of the stamp duty tax take to override the need to improve affordability at the lower end of the market."
The CML also calls on the Chancellor in his forthcoming Budget to address the similar issues raised by the current threshold and structure of inheritance tax.
