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Industry heavyweights have added their support to the 1808 Coalition, set up by the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) and the Association of Residential Lettings Agents (ARLA) to campaign for the Government to modernise Stamp Duty.
Peter Bolton-King, Chief Executive of the NAEA, said: "The Coalition believes that Stamp Duty is an anachronistic tax which, in its current form, is preventing a recovery in the housing sector - it limits market flexibility, creates regional inequality and its slab structure unfairly distorts the housing market. With the Pre Budget Report due soon, now is the time for the Government to take action."
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The current Stamp Duty 'holiday' for properties lower than £175,000 is due to expire at the start of 2010 but in a recent survey by the NAEA, 91% of estate agents surveyed felt that it should be extended. 86 per cent of those surveyed felt that the tax is unfair.
Ian Potter, Operations Manager of ARLA said: "Not only does Stamp Duty prevent those aspiring to own a home from doing so, it also impacts the whole property chain. For ARLA members, this means having to pay Stamp Duty on the bulk price of a portfolio, when individual buy-to-let investors pay a lower rate on the single unit price."
John Stewart, HBF's Director of Economic Affairs, said: "It is imperative that the first signs of market stabilisation that have emerged in recent months, and which have allowed home builders to begin tentatively opening new sites and expanding output and employment, are nurtured.
"The Government's stimulus measures for housing, including the raised stamp duty threshold, have played a significant part in this stabilisation and it is vital that they are not removed at this still fragile stage, either in total or in part."
(CD/BMcc)
