Labour condemns “failed approach” of stamp duty holiday

Labour says the stamp duty holiday is an example of the government’s “failed approach” to home ownership and housing affordability.

Labour’s Shadow Housing Secretary Lucy Powell has also accused the government of having the wrong priorities on housing and “pushing the dream of homeownership further out of reach for many.”

She says the stamp duty holiday failed because house prices in England have risen an average nine per cent or £21,956, according to the latest official ONS figures. 

“Analysis shows that the £3,419 savings from stamp duty for the average house are dwarfed by these sky-high increases. With Nationwide illustrating this week that prices have risen 13.4 per cent in the year to June, at their fasted pace in 17 years, these savings could be even smaller” says a Labour statement.

The party continues: “Even on a conservative estimate, on the basis of turbo-charged house prices first time buyers are paying an extra £18,537 for their first home compared to this time last year. In some regions outside London, the difference is, on average, even higher. “

Powell adds: “First time buyers have been further squeezed out of the housing market by the government’s failed approach, which has turbo charged an already buoyant housing market that had pent up demand even before the stamp duty holiday was introduced.

“They’ve given a huge tax break to the housing sector without addressing the fundamental issues of affordability. As a result, the dream of homeownership is now even further out of reach for first time buyers who are now priced out of the market. 

“Ten years of a Conservative Government with the wrong priorities, has failed to tackle the housing emergency.”

Labour says that even on a conservative estimate, on the basis of turbo-charged house prices first time buyers are paying an extra £18,537 for their first home compared to this time last year. 

And the party claims that in some regions outside London, the difference is, on average, even higher.  

First time buyers in the North East and West Midlands have to find an extra £20,000, with those in Yorkshire and Humber, the North West, and South West amongst the hardest hit.