Stamp Duty Land Tax is fuelling Britain’s housing crisis, the global chief executive of JLL (formerly Jones Lang LaSalle) has said.
Christian Ulbrich said home buyers are “paying for nothing”.
He said the tax penalises buy-to-let investors and purchasers of second homes by imposing a 3% surcharge, while doing little to address lack of housing supply.
He said the surcharge has had a “very strong dampening impact on the market”.
The boss of the firm, whose brands include the London firm formerly known as WA Ellis, also said that the current system, whereby Stamp Duty jumps from 5% to 10% of a property’s value above £925,000, was “politically motivated”.
The Stamp Duty reforms were introduced by former Chancellor George Osborne.
Comments (3)
And this is news? Well it was about 12 months ago Christian.
WE need a fluid and fair housing market – top to bottom. By hammering those purchasing above £1m with increased tax, everything suffers. This is what happens when you put a wallpaper salesman in charge of the Treasury.
Like many taxes it is the Government dressing them up to increase the tax take. SDLT does not and will not solve the housing shortage, nor will landlord or agent bashing.