Cut stamp duty to reap £4bn windfall, Berkeley urges Healey
One of Britain’s biggest housebuilders has urged John Healey to slash stamp duty on newly built homes, in a move which it says would hand the Treasury a £4.2bn windfall. In its Budget submission, London-listed Berkeley Group told the Chancellor that urgent action was needed to prevent the housing market from “sliding over an economic [...]
Housebuilder Berkeley Group has urged Chancellor John Healey to reduce stamp duty on newly built homes, arguing it could boost the Treasury's coffers by £4.2bn. In its recent Budget submission, the London-listed firm warned that cutting the five percent investor surcharge on new homes could unlock 30 percent sales growth. Home sales have dropped by 56 percent since 2022, with building costs skyrocketing since the onset of the Iran war.
Berkeley Group's executive chairman, Rob Perrins, argued that reducing the stamp duty levy is the quickest and most effective lever to restart homebuilding in urban areas. The group asked the government to cap stamp duty at one percent for first-time buyers and downsizers. While the Your First Home scheme aims to help first-time buyers onto the housing ladder, industry experts warn that it won't solve the acute housing crisis, particularly in London.
Written by urgent.news from City AM's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
