First-time buyer stamp duty break may go

Published 25th Jun 2010

The Government is 'reviewing' the stamp duty break for first-time buyers up to £250,000, which could see it fail to become a permanent fixture.

A two-year stamp duty holiday up to £250,000 was granted to first-time buyers by outgoing Labour Chancellor Alistair Darling, in his final pre-election Budget.

The move stole what had been one of the Conservative party's big pledges in previous years and the Tories had been expected to make it permanent if elected.

But this week's Budget confirmed that the coalition government may perform a U-turn on the promise, and axe the break rather than make it permanent.

The Budget said: 'As announced in the Coalition Agreement, the Government will review the stamp duty land tax relief for first time buyers taking into account its impact on affordability and value for money.'

The statement has led to speculation that the stamp duty break worth up to £2,500 for first-time buyers of property up to £250,000 may be scrapped, especially as there has been no supporting words for what was previously Tory policy.

According to figures, calculated in Labour's final Budget in March, the two-year exemption will cost around £550m. The Budget confirmed that a new stamp duty band of 5% on properties costing more than £1m will arrive next April. This would lead to buyers paying at least £50,000 in tax to the Government.

Source: ' Daily Mail '

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