Boris reveals plan to cut Stamp Duty for all house sales under £500,000
Premiership candidate also wants to reduce Stamp Duty paid by those buying homes in the super-prime market.
Boris Johnson’s leadership bid team has revealed that a Bojo premiership would immediately radically cut Stamp Duty if he were to become Prime Minister in a bid to stimulate the housing market.
The measures are to include abolishing Stamp Duty on homes worth less than £500,000 and also reversing the duty increases on more expensive homes, which were raised by George Osborne from 7% to 12%.
All these measures are said to have the hand of Dominic Raab behind them, one of Conservative’s most ardent Brexiteers and right wing ‘low taxation, small government’ proponents. He was also one of the briefest holders of a housing minister post during the May administration.
These changes to Stamp Duty would be announced in an early Autumn Budget to be brought forward by Johnson from its usual October slot to September in a bid to boost the economy, possibly ahead of a no-deal departure from the EU on October 31st, The Times has revealed.
Housing chancellor
The paper has also reported that Johnson wants former Housing Secretary and current Home Secretary to become his Chancellor of the Exchequer, and has offered him the cabinet position over the telephone.
Other measures being promoted by Johnson include a freeze on all new regulations, which would put many of the housing reforms announced yesterday by James Brokenshire on hold.
Johnson also plans to raise the allowance for investing in business to above the present level of £1 million and the threshold for the 40p rate of income tax from £50,000 to £80,000.
“There is now clear evidence that the Stamp Duty increases have started to dent the tax take,” says says Camilla Dell (left), Managing Partner at Black Brick.
“Stamp Duty receipts in England and Northern Island fell by 19% in the first quarter of 2019 compared with the same period in 2018.
“We would welcome a review of current property taxation, particularly the 3% surcharge and proposed 1% additional charge on foreign buyers, which has had the effect of pouring glue into the market and resulting in a dramatic fall in the number of transactions happening on an annual basis.”
