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Mortgages dogged by stamp duty rises

Date: 28 Jan 05

Holders of new mortgages have been hit by a nine-fold rise in stamp duty since 1993/4, according to the Halifax.

The high street lender's figures show an increase from £465 million to an estimated £4,300 million.

The Halifax's survey also found that 81 per cent of people in the UK think that the current stamp duty regime is unfair on first-time buyers.

A further 70 per cent believe that the government should adjust the stamp duty threshold to bring it in line with the increase in house prices.

The chief economist at the Halifax, Martin Ellis, believes successive governments have "failed to play fair" by declining to index link the stamp duty threshold to house price increases.

He said: "Housing is most people's biggest asset and we believe it is right that tax thresholds are automatically linked to house price inflation to ensure that both government and homeowners get a fair, and proportionate, deal."

Mr Ellis concluded: "All the main political parties are in favour of helping first-time buyers get onto the housing ladder, so it must be the case that none of them intended that the average first-time buyer should now be paying stamp duty."

Halifax calculates that the lower stamp duty threshold of £60,000 would now be £156,900 if it had been increased in line with house price inflation since March 1993.

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