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Moneynet: Stamp duty decision is short sighted

Published: 10/12/2009

Alistair Darling's decision not to extend the stamp duty holiday past the end of the month has been labelled as "short sighted".

The chancellor announced that the imposed stamp duty holiday would finish as planned at the end of the month, despite his assertions that the housing and mortgage markets are still fragile as a result of unemployment levels.

Andrew Hagger of Moneynet.co.uk said: "The decision to end the stamp duty holiday is a short sighted move. The chancellor admitted that the recovery is fragile, so why put the dampers on the housing market just when it has started to show some positive signs."

He added: "Because lenders are being over cautious, first time buyers are already faced with finding deposits of ten per cent to 20 per cent so having to pay an additional £1,250 plus in taxation may see demand for property at the vital first rung of the property chain fall away."

The chancellor said in his announcement that he expects as many as 240,000 homebuyers were helped by the stamp duty holiday.

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