Stamp duty holiday set to end in UK property market
The UK government is set to end a stamp duty holiday on properties valued at between £125,000 and £175,000 which have been exempt from the 1% stamp duty since September 2008. The scheme has already been extended once but many people believe that as of 31 December the extension will end and average priced properties in the UK will again attract additional stamp duty charges.
While there is no doubt that the exemption has caught the attention of many home buyers around the UK, the fact that mortgage liquidity is still relatively low has held back the success of this initiative somewhat. Whether the end of the stamp duty holiday will have a material impact on the UK property market is open to debate, because the market has changed since September 2008 although it is maybe not as buoyant as some people would have you believe.
However, there is also a feeling from some in the city that the UK government may well look to extend the scheme once more to cover the general election and give Gordon Brown and another brownie point from UK homebuyers. This would be a high risk strategy and could attract cries of bribery from the Labour Party.
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