Plea for reform of property levy

A CONTROVERSIAL property tax has damaged the housing market, according to surveyors who have called on the SNP to overhaul the system.

They made a last-minute plea to Finance Secretary Derek Mackay to use today’s Budget to reform the Land Building and Transaction Tax (LBTT) which replaced stamp duty.

A report by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) has revealed a drop in demand in Scotland’s housing market across all price bands.

The UK Residential Market Survey for November showed that as well as a drop in the sales of homes priced over £325,000, there was a drop in first-time buyers last month.

The report said that LBTT is ‘limiting market activity’ from the middle to prime bands and that this is having a ‘detrimental trickle-down effect’.

Scottish Conservative finance spokesman Murdo Fraser said: ‘This report shows the top end of the Deputy Scottish Political Editor housing market is stagnating as a result of the SNP’s stamp duty changes. The Nationalists may not consider that to be important but the problem is, before long, it dribbles down to the rest of the market, making it more difficult for everyone to move on.’

The SNP introduced LBTT to help get first-time buyers on the property ladder by exempting those who buy homes priced up to £145,000 from paying a levy. But, the controversial tax has created a bottleneck in the housing market with a reduction in the sale of homes over £325,000.

A Scottish Government spokesman said last night: ‘The implementation of the Land and Buildings Transaction Tax has been designed to prioritise support for first-time buyers and assist individuals and families as they move through the property market.’