George Osborne
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Latest property news
It’s high time we ditched the ‘death tax’ for good
Glentree International boss Trevor Abrahmsohn says ditching Inheritance Tax would be a welcome bonus for all and might also keep a few Tory MPs in their jobs.
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Latest property news
The Four Horseman of the Property Apocalypse are saddling up!
Glentree International boss Trevor Abrahmsohn says continuing to clobber landlords is folly we may now be looking at a repossession and homelessness crisis.
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Latest property news
Government warned not to ditch 300k housing target by leading lender
Leeds Building Society says desperately needed new homes will not be built if the 300,000 target is dropped.
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Latest property news
Boris reveals plan to cut Stamp Duty for all house sales under £500,000
Premiership candidate also wants to reduce taxes paid by those buying homes in the super-prime market.
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Latest property news
‘Don’t blame the parlous state of the property industry on Brexit’
Even intelligent observers of the residential property market, particularly in London, are being fooled into believing that Brexit and its uncertainty is responsible for the slump in activity to date, when the cognoscenti know full well, that it is all down to the ‘fall out’ from Stamp Duty. When Mr Osborne imposed these draconian hikes in this tax in 2014, he thought, somewhat stupidly, that it was the Tory’s version of a Mansion Tax. Like all myopic politicians, he had no idea of the devastating effect it would have on other parts of the economy, such as retail spending and the UK growth rate. Grabbing the Election victory in 2015 from the clutches of Labour was all that mattered at the time and he naturally thought that his strategy of ‘Project Fear’ would win the Referendum vote that would take care of any downfall. How wrong could he be? With, effectively, 15% SDLT rates at the middle to top end of the market, mainly in London, six out of ten potential buyers have been dissuaded from purchasing altogether, leaving just three to four ‘needs driven’ buyers who are prepared to ‘weather the storm’ and commit themselves. Although it’s good news…
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Latest property news
Budget 2016: Housing reaction
George Osborne’s eighth Budget was another intriguing one for the property market, particularly the residential market. He confirmed that the 3 per cent higher rate of stamp duty for those acquiring a second home or buy-to-let property will come into force at the start of April 2016, but he sprung an almighty surprise by announcing that larger investors will not be exempt from the higher stamp duty, as previously thought, which will apply equally for purchases by individuals and corporate investors. Although the Government’s reversal on the exemption for large-scale investors is surprising, it is unlikely to lead to a significant dampening of interest in the build-to-rent sector, according Gráinne Gilmore, Head of UK residential research at Knight Frank. She commented, “Bulk purchases of residential units at the lower value end of the scale will be most affected by the Chancellor’s move, which seems counter to the government’s pledge to provide more affordable housing. But the rental market is an entrenched and growing part of the UK housing market, and as such, institutional investment in this asset class will likely continue to grow.” It was also announced that home movers who have a period that overlaps between buying one property…
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Housing Market
Jeremy Leaf
Rolling the dice. The Chancellor, George Osborne, is gambling with the property market – says Jeremy Leaf.
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Latest property news
Mortgage chief calls stamp duty hike ‘political stunt’
George Osborne’s decision to raise stamp duty for buy-to-let landlords has been dismissed as a “political stunt” by Managing Director of Vere Mortgages, part of deVere Group, one of the world’s largest independent financial advisory organisations. The Chancellor announced an additional 3 per cent stamp duty on second homes and buy-to-let properties in his Autumn Statement, adding thousands of pounds in tax. A property worth £275,000 will currently cost £3,750 in stamp duty but will cost £10,800 from next April when the tax rise comes into play. Buy-to-let is increasing and is currently at the highest level since before the financial crash in 2008. Rather than dampen the buy-to-let market and free up much needed properties for first-time buyers, Mike Coady (left), who heads deVere Mortgages, believes that the clampdown on buy-to-let investors will be “ineffective for its purported aims” of raising cash to help first-time buyers and paying for more affordable housing. Describing the tax measure as “something of a political stunt”, Coady thinks that the Government’s desire to be seen to be acting on this “emotive and topical issue” by appealing to the “politics of envy” with buy-to-let landlords and second homeowner the targets, will not just “trigger…
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Housing Market
Government Spending Review
George Osborne has today declared that he plans to “end the crisis of home ownership in our country.” Great news. To do this, The Chancellor is to double the housing budget to £2 billion a year and build 400,000 new homes across the country. “We are the builders!” yelled Mr Osborne above the parliamentary hubbub. He was talking about infrastructure when he said that, but it also applies to his housebuilding plans. A new building bonanza will be funded by public money, with developers channeled into building starter homes for hard working families (Mr Cameron’s favourite sector). The Chancellor is also mindful of the importance of ‘young hardworking families’ as he has now decided to rein back his proposed cuts to tax credits, softening the blow by delaying implementation of those deeply unpopular cuts. He is, however, capping Housing Benefit for new tenancies. The funding for housebuilding will be split into several parts; £2.3 billion directly to developers (ever thought you were in the wrong business?) to ‘encourage’ them to build 200,000 starter homes. That’s £11,500 per house. These homes are designated as being for ‘those aged under 40.’ Tough luck if you are just 41 and not yet been…
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Latest property news
Stamp Duty Reform
Every buyer, seller and estate agent in the land would have liked to see Stamp Duty abolished but we all knew that wouldn’t happen. However, George Osborne, The Chancellor of the Exchequer, dealt a masterstroke to the Opposition party with his dramatic – and immediate – Stamp Duty reform. Thousands of pounds saved in Stamp Duty payments – for 98 per cent of all homebuyers – will give potential buyers a real impetus to move. It’s another way of clobbering the rich to butter up Middle England voters.” This was a carefully constructed bomb among a whole salvo of missiles aimed at the Labour Party’s election campaign. It will certainly catch the votes of most estate agents when it comes to the crunch next May. Vote-catching aside, this was a brave – and clever – way of reforming tax which removes the need for a Mansion Tax, while the wealthy (those able to afford more than £937,000 for a home) can console themselves that it is a one-off payment on purchase, rather than an additional annual tax. Changes in a nutshell Old regime: Stamp Duty applies to all properties over £125,000. It was calculated in bands and even if the…
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