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AHIPP wants temporary halt to stamp duty
2 July 2008 11:30
The Association of Home Information Pack Providers (AHIPP) has demanded that stamp duty be suspended on some properties in order to help rejuvenate the market.
With house transaction volumes expected to dip to 650,000 this year, the AHIPP has forecast that this will cut the government's income through stamp duty by £1.5 billion.
It has therefore urged the government to stop charging this tax on lower cost properties for the next 12 months, claiming that this will stimulate greater market activity and boost stamp duty revenues in the longer term.
AHIPP director general Mike Ockenden explained that this action could aid many first-time buyers struggling to meet tighter lenders' criteria, as well as other homebuyers currently lacking the funds to move.
He asserted that stamp duty is a tax from which buyers gain scant direct benefit and called on the government to recognise the affordability problems that it can create and to take the necessary steps to revitalise the property market.
Stamp duty is presently charged at one per cent on houses priced between £125,001 and £250,000, with data from Halifax showing that the average homebuyer paid out seven per cent of their annual income on this cost last year, up from five per cent in 2002.
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