SDLT: Government admits "slight price impact"

Treasury minister David Gauke says stamp duty changes announced by the government in last month’s autumn statement will have a "slight" impact on house prices and may even produce reduced revenue.

Gauke told MPs as the SDLT legislation cleared the Commons that there was a  widespread positive reaction to the stamp duty changes - which replaced the old slab thresholds with a more graduated tax - and he says the revised calculator on the HMRC website has now been used more than 1.5 million times.

Despite the possible revenue reduction "we believe that was nonetheless the right thing to do ... to deliver a reform that benefited the vast majority of people paying stamp duty."

Old stamp duty thresholds remain for commercial property and Gauke told MPs it would not be possible to "flip" a property from the residential category to commercial or vice versa in order to minimise SDLT payment. 

Gauke reiterated the government’s line that cutting the duty would mean less to pay for 98 per cent of buyers. "It will reduce distortions in the housing market, it will be of particular benefit to first time buyers and those making the first few moves up the ladder” he said.

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