NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF ESTATE AGENTS
PRESIDENT
“This Budget week is proving to be a double whammy for first time buyers: not only has the chancellor failed to offer any real help to lower and middle income homeowners and first time buyers, but from Saturday, the stamp duty holiday for first time buyers will be coming to an end. Property is already over-taxed in the UK compared to other OECD countries and instead of using the Budget as an opportunity for whole-scale reform of property taxation, the chancellor has chosen to further tax property sales with the introduction of a seven per cent rate at the upper end of the market (homes over £2m). The Budget was a chance for George Osborne to support the green shoots of recovery, but there is very little to support the UK’s fragile property market.”