Should stamp duty thresholds be raised to boost the housing market?
In England and Northern Ireland the nil-rate threshold for Stamp Duty Land Tax stands at £125,000 for standard buyers and £300,000 for first-time buyers following its reduction from temporary higher levels in April 2025. House prices have risen substantially since the bands were last permanently adjusted, pulling more transactions into tax and increasing average bills. Industry groups, housebuilders and MPs argue that raising thresholds would cut costs for buyers, boost transactions and support government housebuilding targets ahead of the October 2026 Budget.
25 Opinions
No stamp duty should be abolished
Stamp duty ought to be abolished. It specifically incentivises holding on to the same property forever rather than buying/selling. This makes the housing market inefficient as you get people who would otherwise be happy to move staying put to avoid losing a chunk of their gain to a big one-off tax.
Stamp duty is yet another tax on hard working people. As if we haven't had enough already.
Governments, particularly those on the Left, seldom opt to collect a small transaction tax on a large number of transactions. I don't get the thinking. Encourage active markets, take a small share. That gives everyone an incentive to thrive, unpunished. High taxation is an established lever for dampening undesirable behaviour. But why would moving house be on that list?
As a minimum yes. But in truth it should be abolished entirely.
Stamp Duty should be abolished. However the problem with the housing market is Political interference by moronic politicians & immigration. Deport the 5 Million who don’t belong here, undertake an audit and things will change for the better in all walks of life. Remove our Communist government who are gradually stealing all our assets so they can give £Billions away & see how the UK & his housing sector can get back on track.
Ideally stamp duty should be completely abolished. It is, according to many studies, the most destructive tax per pound of revenue raised. The damage it causes to the housing market by reducing the level of transactions is massive. Raising the thresholds is a step in the right direction
If the market has changed then the stamp duty needs to change, simples. We need English people buying their own property. Saving the Government money means more of our taxes go to illegals getting free housing
But ideally removed on your first home entirely
It’s not stamp duty that the problem, it’s the cost of properties.