Stamp duty rates should be cut by 50% now and later abolished, group say
April’s 3% stamp duty hike will hurt tenants facing rent rises, group claim
Declassify green belt land and build ‘taller, denser’ homes, report suggests
Stamp duty on homes should be slashed in half and eventually abolished, a campaign group is urging. Blasting stamp duty as a ‘badly-designed tax which gums up property markets’, The Taxpayers’ Alliance suggested that it should gradually be phased out. It added that the extra three per cent stamp duty surcharge for buy-to-let and additional homes in particular should be abolished, warning that it will drive up rents for tenants as investors pass on costs. Declassifying some green belt land, while allowing ‘taller, denser construction’ in urban areas will also be necessary to resolve Britain’s housing shortage, a report by the campaign group claims. Describing stamp duty as a ‘disastrous, unfair and unnecessary tax’, the report suggests the additional stamp duty hike will exacerbate supply shortages and drive up rents for tenants. Jonathan Isaby, chief executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: ‘For decades politicians have failed to tackle the root causes of the housing crisis: a chronic lack of supply. ‘What’s more, stamp duty is still punitively high and gimmicky tweaks to the tax system will ultimately end up penalising tenants and increasing rents.