Call for Chancellor to freeze stamp duty
22 Aug 08
Edinburgh five hand in petition, saying such a move would help the property market
Five Scottish property law firms have asked the Chancellor to freeze stamp duty.
Warners, the Lints Partnership, Neilsons, Leslie Deans & Co and Drummond Miller handed in the petition to Alistair Darling's constituency office in Edinbrugh. The five firms, who make up the Edinburgh and Lothians Property Group (ELPG), want the Chancellor to either freeze all payments or drop the first £125,000 tier of stamp duty.
Stamp duty is currently charged at 1% for homes between £125,000 and £250,000, 3% for properties between £250,000 and £500,000 and 4% for those over £500,000. Stamp duty was frozen in 1992 when the UK property market slowed down.
Leslie Deans of Leslie Deans & Co said that although the Scottish property market was not in as bad a way as the rest of the UK, this situation could not be relied on for the long term and that there were far more people selling than buying. A stamp duty freeze, he said, could help the market considerably.