Chancellor Phillip Hammond moved to improve the affordability of home ownership in Britain by eliminating the stamp duty on the first 300,000 pounds of a new home purchase. The move is part of a package aimed at increasing new housing builds over the next decade. Another tactic dubbed “use it or lose it” will target developers who hoard land but refuse to build. In 2015 when the policy was first brought up, Conservatives viewed it as “Marxist”. A representative for the mortgage industry viewed the stamp duty change as one less barrier for young home buyers.
Key Takeaways:
- Developers who hoard land stand to use it or lose it under the Chancellor’s new policy.
- Big developers have been accused of keeping an iron grip on the pace of the housing market.
- Hammond admitted that improvement is needed to increase the affordability of the housing market.
“Stamp duty will be scrapped immediately for first-time buyers of homes below £300,000, as the Chancellor put Britain’s housing crisis at the heart of his Budget.”