Stamp Duty axed below £175,000 for a year. Your thoughts?

Question

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7592852.stm

Having finally just got on the housing ladder and paid best part of £2000 in stamp duty I am a little miffed - but I have to admit the ceiling they've chosen would still have meant we had to pay, because in our part of the world, Cambridge, its still pretty impossible to get much for under £175,000. Will it make a difference to you though?

Answer 1

It is just more labour gerrymandering!  Such a threshold will help the Northern labour strongholds and not the South!

But in political respects they would have probably done better to have done nothing!!

The conservatives made it 250,000 last time and they are almost certain to do it again come the election.

Labours shot itself in the foot again!!

Answer 2

it is a start

but as you say there are many parts of the country where that amount buys little or nothing

even in my town there are many apartments that cost that much and they are no great shakes

it might help to sell to first time buyers but the people even a little way up the ladder have to fork out too much in stamp duty

maybe a holiday from this ridiculous tax for everyone would have been a better stimulus for the housing market