Labour calls on government to include shared owners in stamp duty cut
Labour has echoed calls from the housing sector to end the exclusion of shared ownership buyers from the government’s recent stamp duty relief.
The government axed Stamp Duty Land Tax for first-time buyers on properties of up to £300,000 in the Autumn Budget – but many shared ownership buyers are likely miss out on savings.
This is because stamp duty tax relief for shared owners is calculated according to the full value of the property. This means a shared ownership buyer purchasing half a £500,000 home in London would pay £2,500 in stamp duty, despite purchasing equity of just £250,000.
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John Healey, shadow housing secretary, has written a piece for Inside Housing today setting out Labour’s call for the cut to be extended.
He said that while the “government has promised to help first-time buyers with the cost of stamp duty”, it was “cutting out many of those who buy a shared ownership home”.
Shared ownership is marketed primarily at those struggling to raise enough initial cash to purchase a home.
Mr Healey added: “I want to see ministers applying the same rules to shared ownership as they apply to people buying a full property for the first time. Buyers of shared ownership homes are precisely the people that this stamp duty relief should be there for and it isn’t.”
The government argues shared ownership buyers already get special treatment, as buyers on the scheme can make a one-off stamp duty payment based on the overall value of the property.
Inside Housing reported earlier this month that housing providers had approached Homes England and the government with the aim of opening a dialogue and bringing up possible alterations to the scheme.
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