Is Caroline Flint As Sharp As She Thinks?
News that housing minister Caroline Flint has today gone out of her way to stoke the fires of the stamp duty argument yet again has left many in the industry completely and utterly at a loss to know what is happening. First we had the Chancellor hinting at a possible stamp duty holiday for home buyers, then we had the Treasury claiming it was not even under consideration, now we have Ms Flint confirming that it is being considered but there will be no announcement until the autumn. Do these people not read the newspapers or watch the news?
The situation has become more clouded than ever before and there is a real danger that the temporary strike by buyers until they know the outcome of the governments talks will continue for some time. This is the last thing which the industry needs with a report today suggesting that some estate agents in the UK are only selling one home per month, as oppose to eighteen per month at the top of the market.
Caroline Flint may not be as sharp as she thinks because unwittingly she has made a bad situation very much worse for the Labour government.
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