End to stamp duty holiday will damage recovery, says RICS
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The end to the stamp duty holiday will have a detrimental effect on the recovery of the housing market, warns the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.
RICS says when the holiday ends on December 31, regions which have so far been left behind in their recovery will be effected more than other regions.
The research found that the regions that are most concerned about the impact of ending the stamp duty holiday are those whose average prices sit within £125,000 and £175,000, namely the East Midlands, the West Midlands, Wales and Scotland.
In the north, where the average price is well below the threshold at £116,051, there is less concern about the impact of the end of the stamp duty holiday.
RICS chief economist Simon Rubinsohn says: “A return to the status quo will be of benefit to no one, and as such RICS believes that rather than simply reverting back to the old structure for stamp duty, the imminent change provides an opportunity for the Government to introduce a wholesale restructuring of the tax.”
Rubinsohn says RICS favours moving from the current slab structure to a marginal system with no homebuyer paying anything on the first £150,000 of their new home.
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