Truss to cut Stamp Duty - reaction

Liz and Kwasi need to be consulting the property industry, not the mandarins in the corridors of Whitehall. A stamp duty cut is not what we’d be proposing as there are higher priorities to be dealt with at this time, specifically how to keep people's houses warm this winter. All eyes should be on the cost of living crisis, not the property market.

People don’t need help to move home. They need help to keep and heat the one they have.

This is a very cynical move, as house prices are the bellweather of how rich the country feels. It could be said that people can put up with inflation if their house is going up at the same rate. When you need an intervention to prop up prices then the fall when it comes will only get bigger. Leave the market alone and let it find its level. The pain when it comes will get exaggerated by this kind of artificial stimulus.

The government's solution to our cost of living crisis is to help more people buy more overpriced and overinflated houses. I am not sure that is what our country needs right now. How about they take a look at those struggling to get onto the property ladder as it is, due to paying extortionate rent prices and over-inflated house prices meaning homeownership is becoming more and more out of reach. Perhaps an increase on the stamp duty relief threshold could provide a longer term solution instead of causing mass panic for a SDLT exemption deadline. If it is a genuine reform that could change the housing market for the better, I'm all for it, but another gimmicky holiday is worrying. I bet legal conveyancers are shaking in their boots after the last exemption deadline.

Cutting stamp duty will appeal to the Tory faithful but ultimately won’t massively benefit those trying to get on the housing ladder. With too few properties on the market already, this move will likely push prices even further out of reach for the aspiring first-time buyer. More affordable homes is the best way to underpin and strengthen the market but this seems to be something successive governments are unwilling to invest in.

Stamp duty needs a reform without doubt, but a repeat of the 2020 holiday isn't necessarily the answer as this created a very overheated market with many people paying way more for a property than they saved in stamp duty. The other issue is when any stamp holiday stops, it's like a tap being turned off with a lack of new properties coming to the market. However, with interest rates increasing dramatically since the record lows of 2020/2021, I'm not sure it will have the same impact as last time around. We'd rather see a reform that brings the nil rate up to the average house price, which increases each year with the house price index. Helping more people buy the average house without paying tax would be far more sustainable in the long run, but maybe that's too long-term and not a vote winner.

Stamp Duty is an archaic tax, one that the government has earnt millions of pounds from. It’s about time it was changed, as buying a house is costly enough as it is and it doesn’t seem fair to penalise the buyer for this. However, I have no doubt this will come back in a different guise sometime in the future.

Why should anyone be taxed to buy a family home in the first place? There are plenty of other ways to raise tax revenue without punishing the aspirational. The only thing I would say is make it a genuine tax cut, not a holiday, to avoid another “cliff-edge” rush to action. Stamp duty puts homeowners off putting their properties up for sale and this is a major contributing factor in the lack of homes currently on the market. If stamp duty were reduced it ought to encourage more people to sell. Stamp duty is ripe for overhaul. It’s paid by buyers on the asset that someone else has made all the profit on. If it really has to remain, the Treasury ought to consider transferring the charge to the seller.

The PM's higher growth pursuits in the hopes of getting more people to move will likely contribute to a further rise in house prices since property market activity will be stimulated. Despite the cost of living crisis and rising rates, this could reinject buyer confidence into the housing market after the nil rate band returned to £125,000 last year. However, properties in different price bands will have varied reactions to the tax cut, as happened in the recent stamp duty holiday. The impact will be felt more on the number of transactions instead. We expect a combination of these factors to raise house values between 3% to 4% before the year ends as a result.

I hope Liz Truss does not fall into the trap of thinking reducing Stamp Duty is the holy grail. Reducing the tax on buying a property will give a short-term boost to the property market but in the long run it is a bad policy that artificially inflates house prices and merely exacerbates the problem.

This is potentially good news for the housing market and the economy, especially at a time where the cost of living crisis looks set to hit both. Key, however, will be whether the measures announced on Friday are the start of genuine reform, not just an eye-catching gimmick such as another stamp duty holiday.

With interest rates as high as they are and the cost of living looming ominously over the winter ahead, consumer confidence is bound to be impacted and we are already seeing much less demand for new properties coming to the market. A stamp duty cut could offset some of the buyer hesitation and be just what is needed to maintain a healthy balance of supply and demand.

This is a great move by Liz Truss. At a time when some people are seriously considering holding off moving due to the sudden increase in interest rates over the past six months, the stamp duty relief would offset a significant amount of the higher mortgage costs. Not only will it help first time buyers, but if they reduce it across the board, this should encourage movement with properties above £1m. Although it would reduce the amount of income for the government per transaction, the increase in volume would make up a large proportion of this, and it may even increase Government income from stamp duty. If they completely cut it at all levels, it is a bold move and it would be adding rocket fuel to the property market. It would certainly encourage growth. Overall, it is very positive for the property market and perfect timing. They could go one step further and scrap the 3% surcharge for second homes and BTL properties. At a time when landlords are facing higher costs, this would be a welcome move. The new PM seems to be making some significant and encouraging moves.

Loathe as I am to admit it, I actually think this is a smart move. The reality is that the increased cost of mortgages is going to make some peoples financial situations untenable leaving downsizing as their only option. Anything that makes it easier for people to move house with less of a financial hurdle is a good thing in my book.

A stamp duty cut will not help the property market much in the current climate. We are going to see a cooling off of prices, especially in London and the South East regardless of any cut. Mortgage interest rates have rocketed in recent months thanks to the Bank of England, and they're only going to rise higher. This in turn has a massive impact on mortgage affordability and acceptance, which a stamp duty cut doesn't help.

This is yet another last-gasp disastrous attempt to prop up house prices. The last one pushed prices up by well over 10% to all-time record highs. So any saving people made on the stamp duty was more than wiped out by the increase in prices. Great for housebuilders and banks, not so great for everyone else. The public, and especially first-time buyers, are being played for fools. House prices are too expensive. That's it. We don't need help to buy, stamp duty holidays or any other hair-brained scheme. We just need lower house prices.

The last time Stamp duty was cut we saw an overheated market and house prices being pushed up. We are likely to see further issues if the reduction comes with a deadline. What we learned from the last time this happened was that there was a mad rush to sell and prices became inflated. Afterwards, there was then a shortage of properties going onto the market but still plenty of buyers so this resulted in a further upward push on house prices. I agree that stamp duty needs reform and I agree that inflation needs to be controlled but I don't think using stamp duty to control inflation is the answer.

If we momentarily put the country's social issues to one side and focus on Liz Truss’s primary objective of growing the economy, then the removal or cutting of stamp duty will undoubtedly help. It clearly works, albeit on a short term basis. I would therefore suggest longer, more sustainable initiatives are developed, which persuade property owners to sell particularly when their property is no longer suitable.

Wow, if there was a bad idea it is this one. People are concerned about heating homes not moving homes. This move will inflate house prices, cause more competition and shove first-time buyers farther away from the dream of home ownership. Whilst this could bolster stocks of rental properties, which is well needed at the moment, it would be a disaster for the beleaguered first-time buyer.

Whilst a revision of stamp duty is welcomed, it doesn't help to control the cost of living. It might make some feel good, but what's the benefit of that if you are cold, hungry or homeless?

Stamp duty cuts will benefit only a minority of wealthy individuals whilst further reducing the tax take of the Government. Make no mistake, this will be paid for by ordinary people through increased government debt and rising prices due to a weakening Pound. Any arguments that this will stimulate growth seem to miss the basic point that we are still not building enough homes to meet demand. If the government truly wants to drive up economic activity, why not look to use the money they will spend to fund this tax cut to build social housing? Unfortunately, this is yet another short-term tax cut policy rather than a longer term invest-for-growth policy.

The reform and review of the whole concept of property taxations such as “Stamp Duty” is long overdue. However, in the current climate, rising interest rates and the cost of living are far more impactful on people and until these two elements are tackled and successfully tempered, anything else - including stamp duty cuts (which the Scottish government would be unlikely to implement) - are secondary, potentially counterproductive and arguably just political grandstanding.