Pissing In The Ocean

The government, in a rather piss pathetic attempt to reanimate the corpse of the housing market, has announced that it will exempt properties worth less than £175,000 from stamp duty (the current exemption is £125K).

Given that the average house price in the UK is around £200K, this will have next to little effect.

Additionally, statistics show that the number of property deals that are already exempt from stamp duty has fallen almost as much as those liable for the tax; in other words the exemption is irrelevant.

The fundamental issue facing prospective house buyers is the lack of mortgage funding, not so much shaving a few thousand pounds off the price. This measure does not address the liquidity issue in any shape or form, it is pissing in the ocean.

Posted in: credit crunch,credit squeeze,government,liquidity,mortgages,pound,property,stamp duty,statistics