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Stamp duty holiday benefits first-time buyers
Wed 11 Nov 2009
Nearly one in three first-time buyers in Britain managed to avoid paying stamp duty during September 2009, new figures have revealed.
The government recently raised the stamp duty threshold to £175,000 on a temporary basis, a policy which will remain in place until the end of the year.
According to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML), this policy has played a "modest role" in underpinning confidence in the housing market.
Figures showed that during September 2009, over 6,000 first-time buyer loans were issued for properties valued between the old threshold of £125,000 and the new limit.
This works out to 32 per cent of all the mortgage loans given to people getting on the property ladder for the first time.
CML forecasts suggest that this trend could be sustained for as long as the stamp duty concessions remain in place.
The National Association of Estate Agents has already called on the government to extend the stamp duty holiday beyond December and raise the threshold to £175,000 for an "indefinite period".