‘Vendors should pay Stamp Duty bills’ says leading estate agent
Simon Gerrard, MD and Chairman at Martyn Gerrard, says first-time buyers should not have to pay Stamp Duty.
A leading London agent has called for property sellers to pick up Stamp Duty bills, releasing first-time buyers from the onerous cost.
Simon Gerrard, MD and Chairman at Martyn Gerrard estate agents in North London (main picture), says a radical overhaul of Stamp Duty would give the property market a shot in the arm.
Flip the model and make sellers pay instead.”
“The solution is simple: scrap stamp duty for first-time buyers entirely. Better still, flip the model and make sellers pay instead.
“That would remove a major barrier to entry and inject some much-needed movement into the market,” he told City AM.
And he says the ending of the temporary Stamp Duty relief for first-time buyers last month has made the “crisis” worse for people trying to step on the housing ladder.
Tired of same problems
Gerrard, who is a former NAEA President, says: “I’m a London estate agency chairman – and I’m tired of talking about the same housing problems every month.”
He goes on to warn that the Government is failing to realise its housing targets are unachievable.
“Last week’s news that housebuilding in London has dropped to its lowest level since 2009 should have rung alarm bells in Whitehall.
Just another bleak chapter in a long-running story of inertia in the London property market.”
“Instead, it was met with the same muted response we’ve come to expect – just another bleak chapter in a long-running story of inertia in the London property market.”
He also tackles leasehold reform: “In practice, it’s a shiny new system for future buyers, while millions of current leaseholders remain trapped in outdated frameworks, burdened by opaque charges and unresolved cladding concerns.”
