Stamp duty!

Mr_P_5

STAMP DUTY!!!

what a pain! im a first time buyer.. 1% is rediculas.. you would think they would be trying to help first time buyers and maybe give them a benefit or something!..

well......


Rant over. ::)

VH

Quite right, the Goverment make more and more money out of this each year as the price of property rises but the stamp duty threshold stays the same.

alanobrien

It is ugly, i just paid 3% and that made the pips squeek.

No wonder there is so much activity in the market for house extensions people saving the tax and extending rather than moving.

I doubt it can continue, prices out pacing salaries, multiple x salary mortgages, people staying at home until there 30's and extending the retirement age to 70.

Somethings got to give.......

Mr_P_5

at least im not the only one!!! its terrible. at least some people have houses and are in a sitiuation where they have a chance of covering costs.

as a first time buyer its impossible to put a deposit down because you get hit with so many fees and i think that the stamp duty is one that could be looked at especially for 1st timers.

the other thing are all the higher lending charges when taking out mortgages.. i was shocked at some of them being £2,500-£3,500. stupid! ... thats nearly a deposit! luckily i have a good broker who has found one with a lower fee!

alanobrien

I do feel for you, i recall when i got my first mortgage it was ....wait for it.....15.5% interest and i had to get a top up of 4k which was 1% above that. This was the early 80's.

On top of that they stung you with the insurance indemnity fee and anything else they could think of. I remember my mortgage back then was basically all my salary so i worked in a pub in the evenings as well. I recommend the freebies with this job ;D

You think that would have taught me something but no, i am back on the ridiculously high mortgage roundabout once again but this time to give the kids a decent place to live.

I do think its tougher for first time buyers today and would support a move to allow them tax incentives
after all if there are no first time buyers the market stops in its tracks.

Maybe they should bring back mortgage relief for first time buyers only? After all you have a fat chance of getting a council house. There you go, sounds like a campaign to me ;D

Anyay good luck, trust me its all worth it in the end.

webmister22

I bought a house in what the council class as a 'depribed' area and did not pay any stamp duty. There are pockets in the area which are not too good but I think you get that anywhere. I don't have any problems what so ever on my street.

To find areas that qualify for stamp duty exepmtion use the link below:

http://www.inlandrevenue.gov.uk/so/pcode_search.htm


Webmister22

dougk_2

Unfortunately if the government scrapped stamp duty or changed the rates or made the freshold higher , the money would have to be found from elsewhere , so I guess most of us would be not better off - infact it would probably come from a more unfair source or become a totally stealth tax!

Whilst I don't really want to pay stamp duty its not the most expensive element on buying a house and you should always build it into the price you can afford (i.e - if you have 200k to spend take of fees, stamp duty etc and you should be looking to pay no more than 195k for the house).

garysletters

I agree with Doug. Plus, stamp duty is actually not that high here compared to other countries.

Factor it in when you are looking at what your budget will be.

alanobrien

I agree with Doug. Plus, stamp duty is actually not that high here compared to other countries.

Factor it in when you are looking at what your budget will be.

This is true compared to some euro countries stamp duty is lower here then again in most of the main euro countries salaries are higher and house prices are lower than here.

In addition there is more of a rental culture in places like france and germany but i guess that is because they have the housing stock available while various governments over the years sold ours off.

Robert_Sterling_3

My view is that anyone moving house should pay stamp duty on the difference between the price of the new house and the price they get for their present house.

dougk_2

Just be thankfull its not VAT you have to add to the price like you do for goods and services!

I don't agree with the step for 1% to 3% though. if you have to pay 3% it should be on the amount above £250k and not on the whole lot.