The wait is over. Today the Chancellor, Alistair Darling, finally announced his highly anticipated plans for stamp duty. It’s not going to be abolished as some people hoped.
Instead, stamp duty will be exempted on residential property purchases up to £175,000 where the transaction is completed between 3rd September 2008 and 3rd September 2009. After that it’s back to normal, unless the government decides to change the rules again.
For buyers purchasing a home for £175,000 this change will save them £1750 and will clearly be welcome. But for people purchasing a home over £175,000 this exemption will make no difference to the amount of stamp duty they’ll have to pay.
Given the regional disparity in UK house prices this measure will clearly have a greater impact in some areas than other.
But the real question is: Will this incentive help boost the flagging UK housing market?
Notes
For full details on stamp duty and how much you'll have to pay.
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