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Original poster

What if Stamp Duty was abolished?

232 replies

Dingledongledell · 12/08/2025 10:30

I work in an industry that hears lots about tax policy. Stamp Duty is widely regarded to be the UKs most stupid tax. It stops people loving house when their house no longer meets their needs and prevents them from moving areas to take new jobs. It is incredibly economically damaging.

I have a big house as we bought it to accommodate multigenerational living. My MIL is now in a care home and I’d love to downsize. I’d love to live mortgage free, but if we downsized to a property £150k cheaper than our current house any savings would be largely eaten up by stamp duty.

I feel trapped in a big house with a big mortgage. We paid a vast amount of stamp duty to move here not too long ago. We are surrounded by neighbours who have lived in their large houses for many many years. Why should I pay hundreds of thousands in stamp duty over the years just because we move house, when others can sit in vast houses paying nothing more than council tax? It makes no sense to me.

What changes would you make to your current living if stamp duty was abolished?

I appreciate that living in Scotland where stamp duty is far, far higher than in England just exacerbates this problem.

OP posts:
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FunnyOrca · 12/08/2025 11:03

We’re in Scotland and while it’s quite demotivating to me that we will have such a large sum to pay to get the house we want in the next 3-5 years, it really sucks for the elderly.

My parents are in a huge house with a huge garden, that was perfect for a family, but now for an older couple it’s just a hassle to clean and keep on top of the garden (also visitors just always assume they can stay with them). I would like them to live nearer me in a smaller property that they can manage but they’re worried about paying stamp duty and having less money for care, should they need it, in their old age.

My aunt has lost most of her mobility but lives in a first floor flat. It’s lovely and perfect for a young single woman who wants to host parties etc. but now she’s trapped up there without assistance to get out. She looked at moving to ground floor or a modern building with a lift, but the stamp duty is too much to justify this late in life.

Also a real shame about both properties as they are falling into disrepair slightly, whereas a new buyer could make them lovely.

Noodlewave · 12/08/2025 11:02

Dingledongledell · 12/08/2025 10:57

Raising council tax.

Why should I pay endless stamp duty if I want to move house when others living in similar properties don’t? Tax is either to extract wealth from those who are deemed wealthy, or is to discourage certain behaviour. Why am I seen as someone to be mined for money and yet the person next door not?

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Good news, it's not endless! You only pay stamp duty once when you purchase another property.

Badbadbunny · 12/08/2025 10:59

Well, we "could" scrap stamp duty and also scrap main residence relief for CGT so that you'd pay CGT on the unearned profit you made every time you moved house. Would you prefer that?

SlipperyLizard · 12/08/2025 10:58

Tax Policy Associates have proposed rolling council tax, SDLT and business rates into a land value tax, partly because SDLT is such a drag on mobility. Last time I linked to it my post got hidden, but worth googling.

Original poster
Dingledongledell · 12/08/2025 10:57

Noodlewave · 12/08/2025 10:54

SDLT brings in £18b/year, how should the government raise the shortfall if it is abolished?

Raising council tax.

Why should I pay endless stamp duty if I want to move house when others living in similar properties don’t? Tax is either to extract wealth from those who are deemed wealthy, or is to discourage certain behaviour. Why am I seen as someone to be mined for money and yet the person next door not?

OP posts:
Noodlewave · 12/08/2025 10:54

SDLT brings in £18b/year, how should the government raise the shortfall if it is abolished?

Littleredgoat · 12/08/2025 10:50

You're not wrong. It removes fluidity in a market that due to limited supply needs to be fluid.

So many people are in homes that are too large for their new needs, if they could sell and take money out of the property market it would be more beneficial to them and the economy and to the housing shortage. But they stay out because savings will get eroded by stamp duty.

At the moment people suspect a cut might be coming so are sitting tight (again) waiting for a policy change. Just do away with it completely on main residences and watch the market fly.

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