Home buyers may welcome a potential stamp duty cut but they could also end up paying bigger monthly mortgage bills, a finance expert has warned. Sarah Coles, a senior personal finance analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said potential cuts to stamp duty may risk “doing more harm than good”. The average UK house price rose 15.5% annually in July (PA)The average UK house price was £292,000 in July 2022, which is £39,000 higher than at the same time last year. But they should deliver that in a much more sustainable way by investing in building enough houses, not funding widespread stamp duty cuts. It’s not yet known if the proposals to stamp duty would be in place for those buying additional homes as well.”John O’Connell, chief executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: “Stamp duty is a highly destructive tax, harming economic growth by impacting decisions like downsizing or moving for a new job.

Source: The Times September 21, 2022 21:48 UTC