Mark Carney: stamp duty overhaul will boost house prices
12-14-2014
Mark Carney: stamp duty overhaul will boost house prices
Bank of England Governor Mark Carney says Chancellor's decision to scrap "slab" system will support the housing market
George Osborne's stamp duty overhaul will boost the housing market at a time when property prices are starting to cool, according to the Governor of the Bank of England
Mark Carney is the Governor of the Bank of England Photo: Getty Images
By Szu Ping Chan
George Osborne's stamp duty overhaul will boost the property market at a time when house price growth is starting to cool, according to the Governor of the Bank of England.
Mark Carney said the Chancellor's decision to scrap the "slab" system that meant buyers were charged successively higher stamp duty rates on the whole of the purchase price would "provide some support to the housing market."
Under the new rules, buyers only have to pay the higher stamp duty rate on the proportion of the purchase price that rises above each threshold, reducing the bill on any house costing less than £937,000.
Mr Carney told the Evening Standard that "on the margin, a personal view, I would expect [the changes] to provide some support to the housing market”.
He said “the top end” of the market in London was likely to experience a slowdown, adding that “most people in London don’t live in mansions”.
Bank of England data this month showed Britain's housing market continued to cool in October. UK mortgage approvals fell to 59,426, from 61,234 in September, the lowest level since July 2013.