New figures have revealed the punishing effect of stamp duty on first-time buyers. Mark Clarke, is backing the Conservative campaign for the stamp duty threshold to be raised to £250,000 for first-time buyers. The current national stamp duty threshold is just £125,000, which means Gordon Brown is cashing in from house price inflation. As house prices edge up, more and more people are caught in Brown’s stamp duty trap.
- Average flat hits £200,000: New official statistics show that that the average flat in England now costs over £200,000. In Wandsworth, the average flat costs an even higher £347,000. The detailed figures from the Land Registry show record prices for flats across the country – and the vast number of flats which are now liable for stamp duty. Under Conservative proposals, first-time buyers buying a flat would only pay stamp duty in 16 of the 375 local authorities across the England and Wales.
- First-time buyers on 100 per cent mortgages: New figures have also revealed that 34,000 first-time buyers a year are taking out mortgages of 100 per cent or more of the purchase price. This shows how vulnerable they are to negative equity. A stamp duty cut would help first-time buyers raise a larger deposit, which in turn, will make it easier to raise a mortgage and even reduce the interest payments on a mortgage.
Commenting, Mark Clarke said: “The average flat in Wandsworth now costs £347,000. This underlines the need to raise the stamp duty threshold for first-time buyers in particular. Gordon Brown’s stealth tax rises, from stamp duty to inheritance tax to council tax, are all making home ownership harder and harder for more and more people.
“Conservatives recognise the importance of affordable homes in providing the bedrock of stable, safe and green communities. We will make it easier to get on, and move up, the home ladder.”