42% of Britons have no idea how they will raise the cash for stamp duty
Stroud & Swindon, the UK’s 14th largest Building Society, today revealed that 42 per cent of those planning to buy a property have no idea how they will raise the cash for the stamp duty land tax.
How Britons intend to pay for stamp duty:
- I don’t know (42%)
- With savings (25%)
- Add it on to my mortgage (24%)
- Help from my parents (2%)
- With a loan (2%)
The findings show that the attitudes of the sexes greatly differ when it comes to paying the SDLT fee. A third (34%) of men plan to pay their stamp duty bill using their savings, compared to just one fifth (22%) of women. The fairer sex are much more likely to favour adding the stamp duty onto their mortgage (29%) to men (18%).
Worryingly the age group who were least likely to know how they were going to pay their stamp duty bill were the over 55s with 59% admitting they did not know how they would pay this tax with their next property purchase.
Commenting on the findings, Paul Chafer, Commercial Director at Stroud & Swindon, said: “Our recent research shows that stamp duty is the fourth most hated tax in the UK, with one in ten Britons wishing to see it abolished. These findings show that as well as not liking the tax, people do not even know how they will pay it.
“The Government must do something to address the tax burden faced by both current and potential house buyers. We have long argued that stamp duty should be treated as a proportional tax, similar to income tax. This would involve introducing a tiered interest rate where consumers are only taxed on the proportion of their property value that exceeds the stamp duty threshold. By introducing such a scheme, the ‘price bunching’ effect that stamp duty can have around thresholds will be reduced, allowing properties to sell for their true values.
“Introducing these changes will ease the home buying process for many consumers – especially first time buyers. With property sales slowing and forecast to continue to slow throughout 2008, people must be encouraged to keep entering the property market. This measure would prevent those wishing to climb the property ladder but who are ultimately discouraged by a potentially unaffordable tax bill.”
For further information please contact:
David Greenleaf Corporate Communications Manager
Stroud & Swindon
01453 768244
Notes for Editors
TWC questioned 942 adults across the UK online until in Q4 2007.
About Stroud & Swindon Building Society:
Stroud & Swindon is the 14th largest building society in the UK with assets in excess of £2.8 billion. The Society operates through a dedicated team of intermediary business development managers, with a branch network of 22 offices and 20 agencies in the South West, complemented by a direct call centre based in Stroud and website