Cost of Osborne’s tax

IN the year since George Osborne’s swingeing increases in stamp duty on buyto-let, high value and second homes, property sales have slumped by almost a fifth – and, in London, by a third.

Mr Osborne said the rises were merely intended to ‘cool’ the housing market but one leading estate agent said it had been ‘shattered’. That is profoudly worrying because – rightly or wrongly – a buoyant housing market is what fuels the economy.

The present fall in prices demonstrates the perils and unintended consequences of misguided tax increases. Leaders of all political parties please take note.