Osborne’s meddling in the housing market made a bad situation worse
SIR – George Osborne left a dreadful legacy from his time as chancellor by increasing stamp duty land taxes to exorbitant levels for properties worth more than £1 million (report, November 15).
This was pure politics and nothing has been gained. Indeed, the cost of housing for first-time buyers has risen, obtaining mortgages for these aspiring home owners is more difficult, and revenue for the Government has fallen. Older people face a huge direct and indirect tax bill upon downsizing.
Finally, the current policy is frightening overseas buyers and businesses away from Britain. These people and businesses are crucial for the country as Brexit is implemented. David Paterson London W11 SIR – To the exorbitant cost of stamp duty must be added the eye-watering sums demanded by solicitors, surveyors, land registry, estate agents, removal contractors, mortgage providers and insurance companies. SIR – Since 1997, stamp duty increases have caused huge distortion to the housing market. By raising rates for more expensive homes, the stock available for purchase all down the housing ladder was reduced.
In the Eighties, the average owner moved every eight years; now it is every 23 years, according to the Intermediary Mortgage Lenders Association’s 2015 report. This loss of liquidity has helped fuel unprecedented house-price inflation. It has also hampered labour mobility and led to increased congestion on the railways and roads, as people choose to travel further to work, rather than move to a house nearby.
A possible solution would be to allow the purchaser of a home to credit a proportion of the stamp duty paid on it against stamp duty payable on a new home if he or she moves within, say, seven years. Such a change would increase liquidity in the housing market and so increase the number of properties for sale all the way down the housing ladder.
Increased transactions would also lead to economic growth, assist labour mobility, reduce travel congestion and possibly even increase the stamp duty collected by the Government. EP Greeno Walton-on-Thames, Surrey SIR – Taxing house purchases is surely anathema when every government’s aim has been to increase availability. However, that’s not the main problem.
Given that there is always a housing shortage, there will be a market price for any given house. The real cost in materials and labour has, if anything, reduced in real terms. Making more land available by easing planning restrictions would go a long way towards easing the shortage. Denis Kearney Lostwithiel, Cornwall