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Tag: Alastair Darling

Budget figures confirm the urgent need for new sources of investment in construction

Budget figures confirm the urgent need for new sources of investment in construction

As if in compensation for all the anticipation before and excitement during the Budget announcement, we are left with the dull thud back to reality afterwards. Certainly, for construction the Budget itself changed little of substance. Alright the first-time buyer stamp duty holiday was an eye-catching cheeky move. But we all know its greatest impact will be in 20 months time when we will see a flurry of activity by those who don’t want to miss out on potentially saving…

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Stamp duty – a tax rise that looks set to win votes

Stamp duty – a tax rise that looks set to win votes

There is obvious glee within the housing market about the prospects of a two-year period free of stamp duty for those first-time buyers who purchase properties worth less than £250,000. The £250,000 threshold captures practically all of them, with significantly less than 10% of exceptions that will be mainly resident in London and the South East. And the cost of this “Budget giveaway” the Treasury puts at under £300 million annually at worst. This figure is of course a hypothetical resting on the…

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