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.
Share this..
Related stories
CBI survey shows brighter outlook for manufacturers
Despite the fact that today's CBI survey indicates a brighter outlook for the manufacturing sector over the next three months, there is no hiding the fact that more businesses believe that orders will fall over the next three months than those who believe there will be an increase. The report shows that 32% of manufacturers surveyed believe that order levels will fall while 27% believe they will r...
Read MoreCBI puts pressure on George Osborne
The CBI has today requested a "bold and ambitious" budget on 22 June asking for government assistance while attempting to curtail any potential tax rises. In reality this is not going to happen because the UK budget deficits needs to be addressed and UK national debt is set to hit £1.4 trillion over the next five years. Against this backdrop this will not be a giveaway budget and pain will be fel...
Read MoreFirst-time buyers spend £52,900 on rent
12/02/2016 First-time buyers will have already spent an average of £52,900 on rent before they move into their first house, with costs rising to £64,400 for those starting to rent now, according to research from the Association of Residential Lettings Agents (ARLA). Rent will account for 16.4% of total lifetime earnings for today's first-time buyers, according to the research. There are al...
Read MoreHelp to Buy scheme extension launched
09/10/2013 The second stage of the ‘Help to Buy’ scheme has been launched three months early in the hope that the housing market will further benefit from growth in a similar way it did under the initial stage of the scheme. The scheme was originally launched with the intention of helping home buyers find a mortgage, even if they did not have a vast amount of savings. This has been achie...
Read MoreThe knives are out for George Osborne!
In what many believe has been something of an extended honeymoon period for David Cameron and George Osborne it seems that this week will see business leaders, children's charities and unions unleash their venom against the UK government. This comes just hours before the announcement of an emergency £85 billion budget which will see cuts in the UK public sector the likes of which have never been...
Read More