Menu
21/04/2005
Conservatives pledge to raise stamp duty threshold
The Conservatives have announced plans to help UK homebuyers by pledging to raise the threshold for stamp duty to £250,000.
The £1 billion plan, part of the Conservatives’ promised £4 billion package of tax cuts, is aimed at helping first-time buyers and young families looking to buy a bigger home, the party claims.
However, Chancellor Gordon Brown warned that the Conservatives were making “irresponsible and ultimately fraudulent promises on tax, spending and borrowing that do not add up and that they simply cannot afford”.
The Conservatives say that raising the stamp duty – from £120,000 on domestic properties and from £150,000 on commercial premises, will free more than half a million homebuyers a year from paying stamp duty, with 80% of home purchasing attracting no stamp duty at all.
Announcing the plans at an election campaign conference in London, Conservative leader Michael Howard said that the plans would help young people to get onto the property ladder and also make it easier for young couples starting a family to buy a bigger home. He said: “Six years ago, you paid £900 on the average house in England and Wales. Under Mr Blair, it’s risen to £1,800. With a Conservative government, it will be zero.”
Mr Brown said that the Conservatives were “trying to mislead people with money they don’t have and with commitments that they cannot afford.” He said: “It is our commitment to stability – and getting the balance right between spending, tax and borrowing – that has prevented a return to Tory failures of the past and has done more for homeowners than any other promise could, keeping interest rates and mortgage rates at half the average of the Tory years, the lowest mortgage rates for thirty years, our stability backed up by our new plans to help 1 million more become homeowners.”
However Mr Howard said that by saving two pence in every pound the government currently spends, by “cutting out waste and unnecessary bureaucracy”, the Conservatives would be able to stop any of “Labour’s planned stealth taxes”. He said: “Mr Blair is spending your money so quickly and so wastefully that he needs to take more and more of it. In contrast, Conservatives will cut all the waste that Labour won’t.”
(KMcA/GB)
The £1 billion plan, part of the Conservatives’ promised £4 billion package of tax cuts, is aimed at helping first-time buyers and young families looking to buy a bigger home, the party claims.
However, Chancellor Gordon Brown warned that the Conservatives were making “irresponsible and ultimately fraudulent promises on tax, spending and borrowing that do not add up and that they simply cannot afford”.
The Conservatives say that raising the stamp duty – from £120,000 on domestic properties and from £150,000 on commercial premises, will free more than half a million homebuyers a year from paying stamp duty, with 80% of home purchasing attracting no stamp duty at all.
Announcing the plans at an election campaign conference in London, Conservative leader Michael Howard said that the plans would help young people to get onto the property ladder and also make it easier for young couples starting a family to buy a bigger home. He said: “Six years ago, you paid £900 on the average house in England and Wales. Under Mr Blair, it’s risen to £1,800. With a Conservative government, it will be zero.”
Mr Brown said that the Conservatives were “trying to mislead people with money they don’t have and with commitments that they cannot afford.” He said: “It is our commitment to stability – and getting the balance right between spending, tax and borrowing – that has prevented a return to Tory failures of the past and has done more for homeowners than any other promise could, keeping interest rates and mortgage rates at half the average of the Tory years, the lowest mortgage rates for thirty years, our stability backed up by our new plans to help 1 million more become homeowners.”
However Mr Howard said that by saving two pence in every pound the government currently spends, by “cutting out waste and unnecessary bureaucracy”, the Conservatives would be able to stop any of “Labour’s planned stealth taxes”. He said: “Mr Blair is spending your money so quickly and so wastefully that he needs to take more and more of it. In contrast, Conservatives will cut all the waste that Labour won’t.”
(KMcA/GB)
Related UK National News Stories
Click here for the latest headlines.
16 March 2005
Brown's Budget promises for pensioners and homebuyers
Chancellor Gordon Brown has aimed his ninth Budget at pensioners and homebuyers with a series of promises including council tax refunds and an increase in the stamp duty threshold.
Brown's Budget promises for pensioners and homebuyers
Chancellor Gordon Brown has aimed his ninth Budget at pensioners and homebuyers with a series of promises including council tax refunds and an increase in the stamp duty threshold.
02 September 2008
Darling Spins 'Gloom' into 'Optimism', After Sterling Fall
UK Chancellor Alistair Darling has made an apparent 'U-turn' on his previously gloomy predictions for the British economy - insisting he is actually optimistic about overcoming financial difficulties. And the man holding the Government's purse strings also said that his own job is safe, despite rumours of a Cabinet reshuffle.
Darling Spins 'Gloom' into 'Optimism', After Sterling Fall
UK Chancellor Alistair Darling has made an apparent 'U-turn' on his previously gloomy predictions for the British economy - insisting he is actually optimistic about overcoming financial difficulties. And the man holding the Government's purse strings also said that his own job is safe, despite rumours of a Cabinet reshuffle.
03 December 2014
Osborne Unveils Stamp Duty Reforms
Stamp duty is to be cut for 98% of homebuyers, Chancellor George Osborne has announced in his Autumn statement. The new rules will see homebuyers pay nothing on £125,000 and 2% on the remaining £60,000. This works out as £1,200, a saving of £650. Mr Osborne said the changes will come into effect from midnight.
Osborne Unveils Stamp Duty Reforms
Stamp duty is to be cut for 98% of homebuyers, Chancellor George Osborne has announced in his Autumn statement. The new rules will see homebuyers pay nothing on £125,000 and 2% on the remaining £60,000. This works out as £1,200, a saving of £650. Mr Osborne said the changes will come into effect from midnight.
04 March 2004
Stamp duty must be raised to help first-time buyers: Nationwide
The government has been urged to raise the stamp duty threshold to £150,000 after it was claimed that first-buyers are finding it difficult to get onto the property ladder due to the taxes.
Stamp duty must be raised to help first-time buyers: Nationwide
The government has been urged to raise the stamp duty threshold to £150,000 after it was claimed that first-buyers are finding it difficult to get onto the property ladder due to the taxes.
12 February 2010
Loans Boost As Buyers Beat Stamp Duty
The number of loans to first-time buyers hit a two-year high in December 2009, driven by a rush to buy properties in the £125,000 - £175,000 bracket before the year-end stamp duty concession expired, according to figures released today by the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML).
Loans Boost As Buyers Beat Stamp Duty
The number of loans to first-time buyers hit a two-year high in December 2009, driven by a rush to buy properties in the £125,000 - £175,000 bracket before the year-end stamp duty concession expired, according to figures released today by the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML).
-
Northern Ireland WeatherThis Evening and Tonight:Another cloudy and mild night with the odd spot of light drizzle. More widespread outbreaks of rain will spread southeast into western parts of Tyrone, Fermanagh and Derry late in the night. Minimum temperature 8 °C.
