Stamp duty cut ‘helps 4,000 a week’

Theresa May says Budget measure is giving huge lift to first-time buyers getting on to the housing ladder

STAMP duty cuts announced in the Autumn Budget are helping 4,000 first-time buyers a week to get on the housing ladder, Theresa May has revealed.

The Government’s Budget proposed that first-time buyers will pay no stamp duty on properties worth up to £300,000, or on the first £300,000 of properties worth up to £500,000.

The Prime Minister, speaking ahead of a visit to Wokingham, Berks, where she will meet families who have benefited from the changes, said that 16,000 first-time buyers have taken advantage of the scheme.

She said: “I have made it my personal mission to build the homes this country needs so we can restore the dream of home ownership for people up and down the UK.

“In the autumn, we set out ambitious plans to fix the broken housing market and make sure young people have the same opportunities as their parents’ generation to own their own home.

“This has had an immediate impact, with thousands of people already making savings thanks to our stamp duty cut, and over a million first-time buyers over the next five years are expected to save money that they can put towards a deposit, solicitors’ fees or furniture.”

In a pitch to younger voters, Mrs May said she wanted to make sure “the housing ladder is not just a dream of your parents’ past, but a reality for your future”. John Healey, Labour’s shadow housing secretary, has questioned the impact of the Government’s reforms on housing affordability.

He said: “Cutting stamp duty without the increase in affordable housebuilding that Labour has promised will only drive up prices, rather than help the millions of young people who want to buy a home of their own.

“The number of young home owners is in freefall, but under the Tories the number of new low-cost homes for first-time buyers has halved and not a single one of the 200,000 ‘starter homes’ promised has been built. It’s clear Theresa May has no plan to fix the country’s housing crisis.” The Treasury said the policy, which followed a Daily Telegraph campaign on the issue, would benefit a million home buyers over the next five years, taking 80 per cent of first-time buyers out of the duty and saving them an average £1,660.

However, the Office for Budget Responsibility gave the policy a lukewarm response, saying it would lead to higher house prices and suggesting only 3,500 more people per year would be able to afford their first time home as a result. Buyers of properties worth more than £500,000 do not qualify for an exemption.