To think new stamp duty is unfair on London AGAIN

[stupendoushorrendous]

Aibu to think that the new stamp duty rates will unfairly hit Londoners compared to an equivilent person (in wealth terms) elsewhere.

Example, Family bought their house for say £300k many years ago, value has gone up considerably. If they want to move to a different house of equivilent value they could be subject to over £100K in stamp duty. Their mortage could be doubled simply because they want to move.

Surely, this increase in tax could mean it is impoosible for some Londoners to move locally should they need to.

irregular
I think I see what the confusion is its not 1M properties but just over. My apologies, yes there is a small window where someone who was buying for one pound over 1 million would be better off upto 1,125,000 where both regimes are neutral again.

Thank you. Yes I actually realised after I posted that strictly speaking the border is 1 million and 1 pounds! But the spirit of what I said was right. I notice that a lot of the reports are simplifying by saying that rates will be lower up to 937k implying that it's higher above, which is a bit misleading when there is over a 100k range above one million where it is lower. I'm probably more conscious because that's the range where our house value sits!

Anyway. Like I said before I think it's an improvement on the old system but I'm still not keen on taxing mobility. It should also bring down the prices of high value house a little - but increase others. No sympathy for the "treat London differently" argument sorry. Apart from anything else, it would just fuel greater house price differences. You'll be asking for lower income taxes next - because your income doesn't go so far does it? And 50k isn't really a high salary in London because house prices are so high.

Is there really no grace period for those already mid-process? I thought you could choose which system you used (I.e. the cheaper one) up to a point?

I'm sorry but people in London are making more on their houses in a few months than many people earn in a year.

Actually if you look in lots of other countries they are taxed much more (at least for most levels) on house purchase or sale than here.

Don't be absurd OP.

YABU. If someone owns a house worth a million then paying a few quid more isn't going to kill them. It's right that there's a sliding scale.

Yabu

I live in London. Stamp duty was a pita and actually puts me off moving.

But I'm a fucking better position than some poor sod who has to rent a damp shit hole for £2k a month.

And my home is just that, my home.

There should be discounts for first time buyers, or the opportunity to pay over a period of time.

Most first time buyers just have had a substantial discount.

To be honest it is stamp duty in general rather than the changes that penalise people buying in London excessively. We cannot afford to move to a bigger house because our ability to borrow more would be eaten away entirely by the moving costs, primarily the stamp duty. Plus the jump to the next house is just too big. I would happily see prices halved. I am sitting in my mid terrace "mansion" as I write.

Tell me this whole thread is a wind-up, right?

The new rules are a great improvement for the general population. 98% better off. A less distorted market.

You twatanoids! it is SUPPOSED to dampen London House prices. . so that poor folk can still live close enough to work at the poverty line for companies who want to divert money to their shareholders instead of paying fair wages or tax! Sheesh..

I think all stamp duty is unfair. Why should I have to pay the government to be allowed to move house?

Then move out of London.

The rest of us who are unable to live in London and enjoy all the advantages it has to offer manage to cope.

it is SUPPOSED to dampen London House prices

No it isn't!!!

I've just moved house and had previously been moaning about the stamp duty block system because we were moving over a threshold so were hit quite hard.

I don't feel too sore about the changes, partly because they seem to benefit the right people and sting those who can afford it a bit more.

My previous property was small so even a rising housing market meant that it made only a modest amount, most of which we spent on moving, solicitors etc. Our new house cost more than twice as much. The same percentage rise in house prices will make us vastly more money. I'm happy to invest in that by paying stamp duty in advance.

We rent in London, have done for a long time, and are shortly about to up sticks and move to a different part of the country, and take lower paid jobs. The reason - because even though we both earn pretty decent salaries and have a good deposit, we are never ever going to be able to buy a property we like in an area we like with what we can afford. That's just how it is, and despite having friends and good jobs here, we will move away because we want to get on the property ladder (hate that phrase!) and don't want to live in a flat the size of a shoebox for the next X years with very little chance of affording a bigger shoebox any time soon. Stamp duty doesn't even come into it. Personally I think London house prices are a whole different problem for the Govt to address, but I am pleased with the changes as when we buy our non-London reasonably priced home we will be saving money

Well, it will affect those who need to move, even if they are sitting on a large amount of equity.

London is really only for the super rich now.

So, Ed balls will also bring in the mansion tax in additon

www.moneymarketing.co.uk/news-and-analysis/news/labour-to-persist-with-mansion-tax-despite-stamp-duty-reforms/2016917.article

YABU purely because most policy decisions made in this country tend to be made to benefit London whilst fucking over the rest of the country.

If your house is now worth over £700,000 more than when you bought it then I'm not going to feel sorry for you.

I've just paid a good amount of stamp duty, would have paid less in the new system, but I still think the new system is better.

It will affect those who need to move but those who need to move are relatively few in number. Most people move because they want to move and it has always been very expensive to move house when the house you want to buy is high value. You have to save up. Now you'll just have to save up for a while longer.

As someone mentioned earlier, the bands in Scotland are also moving but in this case on £1m house you will pay £77k from next year which is over £30k higher than someone in London will pay (plus council tax is in general significantly higher), so I don't think the changes are necessarily unfair on Londoners. However what makes it is difficult is that the multiples of income required to purchase the average house in London are higher than the rest of the country even if you take into account higher wages.

However, in order to buy a £1m house wherever in the UK, you need either a very well paid job, have a house which has gained significantly in value or to have been gifted/inherited a significant sum of money, and although you may not feel rich compared to some or after bills, frankly it feels much better than no house at all.