I welcome the cut to stamp duty

This week, Parliament is passing the Stamp Duty Land Tax (Temporary Relief) Bill which will temporarily cut Stamp Duty Land Tax for home buyers until the end of the financial year. 

I welcome this measure, as it ensures medium-term confidence in the property market and maintains the growing momentum since the easing of lockdown.  

Since the market reopened and construction restarted in May, activity has begun to increase. Rightmove recently reported that the number of people contacting agents in England hit a record on 8 June, up 40% on the level recorded in early March. Ensuring we have the housing in Norwich that we need is one of my key priorities 

Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) is paid when someone buys a property or land over a certain price in England and Northern Ireland.  So this cut will temporarily increase the Nil Rate Band of residential SDLT, in England and Northern Ireland, from £125,000 to £500,000. This applies from 8 July 2020 until 31 March 2021 and cuts the tax due for everyone who would have paid SDLT.  

This will mean that nearly nine out of ten people getting on or moving up the property ladder will pay no stamp duty at all as a result of this change. 

What’s more, the government’s action to support the housing market will protect and create jobs here in Norwich. Nationally, an estimated 240,000 people are directly employed by housebuilders and their contractors, and between 500,000 and 700,000 employees are indirectly supported in the supply chain.  I think this is a good move for people both in terms of homes AND jobs, so I was pleased to support it in Parliament this week.