Holyrood urged to follow Sunak’s stamp duty cut

THE Scottish Government has been warned of “dire consequences” if SNP ministers fail to match Rishi Sunak’s cut on stamp duty south of the border.

The move was part of the series of announcements from the Chancellor which will see the Scottish Government receive an additional £800 million in funding – taking the total of extra cash they have received from Westminster since the start of the pandemic to £4.6 billion.

Scottish Finance Secretary Kate Forbes complained the figures for Scotland from Mr Sunak’s summer update were “disappointing, underwhelming and fall short of the scale required to reboot the economy”.

Her comments came after Mr Sunak unveiled a series of measures in what he branded a Plan for Jobs, aimed at boosting the economy in the wake of the coronavirus crisis.

As part of that the Chancellor announced house buyers in England will not pay duty on property sales worth up to £500,000.

The move is temporary and will only apply to the end of March next year – but Scottish Conservative leader Jackson Carlaw said its importance “could not be underestimated”.

He joined with the property industry in calling for the move to be matched in Scotland – with Mr Carlaw warning if the Scottish Government did not take a similar stance “the consequences for families and the wider economy will be dire”.

The call was echoed by Scottish Secretary Alister Jack, who said: “The stamp duty cut gives a helping hand to the housing market in England. I urge the devolved administration to do the same.”