Stamp duty and Hips are 'negatives for remortgaging market'

Date:Friday 16th October 2009
Author: Susanna Kavka

An industry expert has suggested that remortgaging will be negatively impacted by the introduction of home information packs (Hips) and the change in the stamp duty threshold.

Ed Mead, director of estate agent Douglas & Gordon, stated that both of these are added costs for home movers and predicted that they will slow growth in the remortgaging sector.

He highlighted stamp duty in particular as an issue that should be amended.

Mr Mead claimed that minimum threshold for stamp duty should be £250,000, because if it is lower than this, there will be less movement in the market, even if the government does get more money for each house transaction.

"It is a very retrograde step. The whole issue of stamp duty has been one where the government has cut off their nose to spite their face," he explained.

This week, FindaProperty.com reported that increasing the stamp duty threshold to £250,000 would make 61 per cent of properties exempt from the tax.