stamp duty
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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
Housing market just about clinging on, reports Bank of England
The property market has been softening across the UK as homes take longer to sell in particular higher up the property ladder, the Bank of England has reported. Its latest quarterly assessment of the UK economy reveals fewer transactions and weaker house price inflation in many areas and a continuing shortage of stock. But the bank says that the housing market remains strongest in the north and in particularly Scotland, and that in general sales of newbuild homes are stronger than resales, helped at the lower end of the market by Help to Buy. The report also says that cheaper homes are selling best while more expensive properties are struggling, reflecting the impact of recent Stamp Duty changes on the housing market. “Some house builders reported slightly weaker demand and the need for greater use of incentives, especially for higher-priced properties,” the report says. The Bank of England also says the rate at which new homes are being built slowed in some regions, although the construction of homes for the student market remains strong. It also says sales of new cars, white goods and homewares have weakened significantly, which the bank blames in part on reduced housing market activity. “In…
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Latest property news
Philip! Charge Stamp Duty by £100k bands, pleads leading industry CEO
Leading property industry boss David Westgate from Andrews believes charging Stamp Duty in £100k bands will revivie sluggish market in many parts of the UK.
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Latest property news
Overseas investors to pay extra Stamp Duty on UK property purchases
An additional Stamp Duty bill for overseas investors has been announced by Theresa May at this year's Conservative Party conference.
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Latest property news
Leading estate agency calls for Stamp Duty suspension to get market through Brexit
Leading estate agency group Spicer Haart has called for a Stamp Duty suspensions for 18 months to get the property market through Brexit.
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Latest property news
E-petition calling for withdrawal of landlord-bashing extra taxes receives 15,300 signatures in a week
Landlords and property investment expert Mark Homer says he is confident his petition will get the 100,000 votes needed to force a debate in parliament.
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Latest property news
Welsh buyers rush to complete before April 1st Stamp Duty hikes
A predicted rush to sell Welsh properties at the top end of its property market has been taking place in recent weeks as buyers have attempted to beat the April 1st deadline for the principality’s new devolved Stamp Duty regime. The way that the slabs of tax banding are now arranged in Wales mean the duty rises more harshly than in England for those who buy properties over £402,000, although the new system is more generous to those buying under this price threshold than the English system. Although a £402,000 buyer pays only £200 more than their English counterpart, the differences are more stark further up the value chain. For example, a home worth £500,000 in England attracts a Stamp Duty bill of £15,000 while the same purchaser in Wales will pay an LTT charge of £17,500. But a house worth £1.5 million will attract an LTT bill that’s £17,450 higher than a similar English property. Rush to complete Welsh law firm Geldards recently predicted that the changes would lead to a “stampede” in upmarket buyers completing before this Sunday. But removals website CompareMyMove.com, which is based in Wales, says overall the new LTT will benefit most ‘average’ Welsh buyers.…
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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
Stamp Duty changes to blame for 14% dip in property sales volumes says Your Move
The changes to Stamp Duty ushered in by George Osborne in 2014 have reduced property sales in London and the South by up to 30%, analysis of Land Registry data has revealed. The number of homes sold each year has plummeted by nearly a third in London and by 20% in the South over the past two years, according to the monthly Your Move/Acadata house price index, although the sales volume reduction has been less acute nationally, at 14%. These figures are also very different across the UK. For example, in the northern regions the volume reduction is just 11% while in Wales the number of homes sold increased by 2%. “The slowdown in London can now also be seen in the South East. Time will tell if the rest of England and Wales remains resilient,” says Oliver Blake (pictured, left), Managing Director of Your Move. His company’s index reveals one silver lining and potentially brighter times ahead for agents. The Christmas/NY shutdown for 2017/18 did not depress sales volumes as much as it usually does during the festive season. “We estimate that the number of housing transactions [during] January 2018 in England and Wales at 64,000, down by 15%…
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Latest property news
Foxtons reports profits down by 43% last year as London market pain continues
Foxtons’ results for 2017 are out and the company says its group turnover, profits and both sales and lettings revenues were down year-on-year but that it has some “strategic initiatives” up its sleeves due to be revealed next week. The company’s profits took the hardest knock. They dropped from £24.6 million in 2016 to £15 million last year, or 43%, as sales within London’s multi-million pound streets remain quiet despite hopes that the exchange rate would persaude more foreigners to buy into the capital’s bricks and mortar. Revenues from its sales operation dropped by nearly 24% year-on-year from £55 million to £42 million, although the crash in volumes within the capital appears to have eased during the final three months of year. But the company says it expects the pain in London to continue. Unlike last week’s Countrywide results which saw disappointing figures for both sides of its core business, Foxtons’ lettings operation continues to deliver at least only moderate revenue reductions – down last year by just 3%. Struggling performance But, despite the weak business performance, CEO Nic Budden appears to be dodging City, investor and board calls for fresh leadership. The company blames its struggling performance on the…
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