Stamp Duty

[drplokta]

Apparently, the Tories have decided to raise the stamp duty threshold to £250,000 for first-time buyers only. Can anyone come up with a workable definition of a first-time buyer for purposes of this policy (remember that the taxman can't ask to see documents more than seven years old)?

Comments

[hawkida.livejournal.com]

What's that got to do with anything? How many first time buyers want to buy a house in London?

And anyway, look at Rightmove - search for a property in London ordered by price and there's a lot before you hit the 250k mark. Admittedly many are flats or maisonettes, but the mortgages and stamp duty issues are the same.

[fjm.livejournal.com]

Actually, I work with lots of Londoners, our admin staff, and many of them or their children in their twenties are priced out of the property market. What many of them have realised is that the problem with buying a flat is that the price differentials between flats and houses are opening up so wide, that a flat is not necessarily a good "first buy", particularly if they are planning family.

[hawkida.livejournal.com]

Depends on the size of the flat. If it's one bedroom, sure. But plenty of families are growing up right now in flats all over the country. And some of them are in places where a flat costs a hell of a lot less than in London. London's expensive, but that doesn't mean Londoners necessarily deserve preferential treatment.