Britain is still paying for Gordon Brown’s greed

Stamp duty makes it harder for the young to trade up, for workers to relocate and for the elderly to downsize. It also reserves housing wealth and growth for those wealthy enough to have the cash available to pay it.

One of the reasons that so many homeowners suffered from recent interest rate rises is because stamp duty forces young buyers to borrow more to buy the biggest property they can – so they do not have to move again any time soon.

The increased stamp duty burden is the result of a short-sighted tax grab that brings in a quick buck for the Treasury, but comes at the expense of the public’s own financial securities.

The stamp duty holiday during the pandemic, which meant nothing was due on the first £500,000, was a brilliant example of how tax cuts can spark economic activity.

It helped drive a rise in house prices, channelling vast sums into the economy and into the bank accounts of surveyors, home movers, estate agents and those who have worked for years to improve their homes at great personal effort and expense.

Unless the Government is willing to act boldly and do something truly Conservative, the stamp duty burden will continue to weigh heavy on Britain for years to come.