abolishing stamp duty,would many of us on here benifit?

RosieandherMaw

I don’t know.
Many people in our age group are contemplating downsizing and what about the potential benefits to our children and grandchildren who are trying to get on the ‘property ladder”
It’s not all about us.

Shouldn't we be encouraged to downsize too?

Perhaps if she'd pledged to encourage firms to build more decent properties suited to the needs of older people, that could be a vote winner.
I don't mean retirement villages, just include reasonably sized bungalows when new developments are planned.

I don't think any bungalows have been built here since the 1970s.

NotSpaghetti

As it's tapered so the super expensive homes pay more it seems to be the one tax that is actually favourable to less affluent people!

Maybe she needs more Tory donors...

What are expensive homes for someone who lives in the a part of the UK other than the SE would say a bedsit in London is expensive. There would have to be a sliding scale of recent sales to an area.

Sarnia

As it stands, stamp duty brings in almost £12b into the Government's coffers. If the Tories win the next GE, if Kemi Badenoch becomes PM and if she remembers this promise she won't be able to give this amount of money away. Something will be taking its place.
Like Farage, very easy to stand up and make promises when you don't have to put your money where your mouth is.

well said Sarnia, they'll have to tax elsewhere to make up the shortfall or cut probably the NHS as the Torys never did want to contribute to other people's health needs as they say we should all pay for ourselves.

mokryna

NotSpaghetti

As it's tapered so the super expensive homes pay more it seems to be the one tax that is actually favourable to less affluent people!

Maybe she needs more Tory donors...

What are expensive homes for someone who lives in the a part of the UK other than the SE would say a bedsit in London is expensive. There would have to be a sliding scale of recent sales to an area.

Why? What people get for their money isn't really the point (I don't think). It is the amount they are spending that is taxed. I don't think it is a particularly fair tax, but I can't see why there should be differentials.

mokryna

NotSpaghetti

As it's tapered so the super expensive homes pay more it seems to be the one tax that is actually favourable to less affluent people!

Maybe she needs more Tory donors...

What are expensive homes for someone who lives in the a part of the UK other than the SE would say a bedsit in London is expensive. There would have to be a sliding scale of recent sales to an area.

This is just England

The rates are different in Wales and Scotland.

The baseline should be adjusted for when you start paying Stamp Duty and letting first time buyers off for their first property to a greater threshold. I also think current rules are wrong. For example, my possible future DIL already has a share in her own home but my son is still renting as he has no chance of buying in London. However, if they buy something together, he will lose his entitlement to a reduction in stamp duty whether they are married or not. This seems unfair. Surely every first time buyer should be eligible regardless of their circumstances.

icanhandthemback

The baseline should be adjusted for when you start paying Stamp Duty and letting first time buyers off for their first property to a greater threshold. I also think current rules are wrong. For example, my possible future DIL already has a share in her own home but my son is still renting as he has no chance of buying in London. However, if they buy something together, he will lose his entitlement to a reduction in stamp duty whether they are married or not. This seems unfair. Surely every first time buyer should be eligible regardless of their circumstances.

I think if they buy the house in your son's name only she can be added to the deeds later and the couple would still qualify for zero rate SDLT.

That is very useful to know *Doodledog" if he ever gets a sufficient wage to buy a property in London. Thank you for your knowledge.

Considering Stamp duty raises over £11 billion every year for the government I think we'll all suffer if it's abolished.

If it means I have to vote conservative then definitely not.

I think several people on this site may be looking to downsize so could be helped by this but lets face it an opposition party can promise anything and everything it's a different matter entirely if they come to power.

I thought the figures had been recalculated and stamp duty 'only'raises £5 billion

The only purpose of SDLT is to raise tax.

If it is were to be abolished on residential homes (excluding second homes and overseas buyers), the tax lost would come from a cut in public spending and other taxes could end up rising to control the inflation which cutting SDLT would cause.

With all the controversy about older people having so much property wealth, one of the alternatives could be to replace a buyers’ tax with a sellers’ tax. This would disadvantage downsizers but could deflate prices, which would be a good thing imo.

One estate agent has claimed that a fifth of over 55s never plan to downsize but of the four fifths who do plan to, 15% would move in the first year if SDLT was abolished and 40% would moved within two years. I don’t find that credible. but what if it were to happen?

There are around 20 million people in the UK over 55. Around 75% own their own homes so that’s 15 million. Some will be joint owers and some singles but if 55% decided to move within two years of SDLT being abolished, that could be something like five million or more home owners looking for smaller homes.

First time buyers already have to compete with landlords at the lower-priced end of the market. Add in millions of older people suddenly looking for smaller homes. It would cause prices to rocket making it even harder for first time buyers to compete.

First time buyers already have to compete with landlords at the lower-priced end of the market. Add in millions of older people suddenly looking for smaller homes. It would cause prices to rocket making it even harder for first time buyers to compete.
I agree about first time buyers competing with landlords for property.

However, I'm not sure that older people downsizing would be looking for the same types of property as younger first-time buyers.

They might if looking to downsize to a small apartment. It’s a fact that most people don’t downsize until their late 70s, 80s or older by which time, they may be living alone and want a small place with no garden to have to maintain.

But even if downsizers are looking mid-range, price hikes at the lower end, which will happen anyway if SDLT is abolished for one-property owner-occupiers, will ripple up through the market.

I accept that SDLT is an unpopular tax but the point of taxation is to control inflation which is exactly what will need to happen if a lot more money starts flowing into the property market. Prices will inflate wiping out the tax saving for most people other than those at the most expensive end of the market.

Badenoch’s announcement was her George Osbourne moment to try to win voters come 2029 but, as I said upthread, any change to SDLT shouldn’t be done in isolation.

Lets see what, if anything, Reeves does next month.

House prices are based on what monthly payment the Lenders think affordable at any incme point.

If interest rates go up, so more of the monthly payment is interest, and less available for capital repayment then prices will fall, aand if interest rates fall prices will rise for the same reason.

Abolishing stamp duty will give houses a price boost because the money that would have been set aside for stamp duty will be available to add to the buyers deposit.

If lots of older people are competing for one and two bedroom flats that would otherwise be starter homes, then prices will go up until the number of people who can afford these properties equals the number of properties available, and sellers will inevitaably prefer an older buyer, who will be cash rich and not need a mortgage, over a younger buyer needing a mortgage and starining their credit to the maximum to get on the housing ladder. Those sales can fall through so easily.