Stamp duty reform would boost housing market

The Government should abolish or reform “eye-watering” stamp duty to stimulate house building and encourage people to buy their own homes, a think tank has said. Stamp duty is the second most unpopular tax in the UK, after inheritance tax, and sees the average buyer in England pay £2,300 in duty when they purchase a property. A report from the Centre for Policy Studies (CPS) has called on the Conservatives to reform the levy by either abolishing it or reducing it under a new system that would charge 4% on a property valued above £500,000 and 5% on one with a value above £1m. Robert Colvile, director of the CPS, said: “Stamp duty rates are not just punishing people for moving home, but actively deterring them.”

The Sunday Telegraph (27/10/2019)   The Sunday Times (27/10/2019)