Think tank calls for govt to scrap stamp duty on pensioners to free homes

A leading think tank has called on the government to abolish stamp duty for pensioners in a bid to encourage downsizing and to free up homes for younger families.

The new report from Policy Exchange revealed there are approximately 1.1 million homes in England with two or more spare bedrooms that are lived in by a single person aged over 65. According to the report, the lower stamp duty band, which sees a 2 per cent tax levied on properties priced between £125,000 and £250,000, should be abolished for “older people”.

However, the report does not specify an age.

The firm argued that the current system discourages older people outside of London and the South East from selling their property to purchase a smaller one.

Recently housing has become a key political issue, with much widespread talk of a “crisis”, particularly with Brexit looming. Chancellor Philip Hammond announced the scrapping of stamp duty for first-time buyers on homes up to £500,000 in 2017.

    Share Story:

Recent Stories


Helping landlords make their cash work harder
MoneyAge Editor, Adam Cadle, talks to Family Building Society BDMs, Arif Kara and Nathan Waller, about the resilient BTL market, the wide variety of landlords that Family Building Society caters for, and how niche products like an Offset mortgage can help improve cashflow.

An outlook on the BTL market
MoneyAge Editor, Adam Cadle, talks to Landbay senior regional account manager, Alex Witham, about current market sentiment within the BTL space and Landbay’s success in this area

Empowering advisers: A decade of education in Later Life Lending with Air Academy
Michael Griffiths is joined by chairman of Air Club and former founder and CEO of Air, Stuart Wilson, and head of the Air Academy, Daniel Holden, to look back on a decade of business focused learning at the Air Academy.


FREE E-NEWS SIGN UP

Subscribe to our newsletter to receive breaking news and other industry announcements by email.

  Please tick here to confirm you are happy to receive third party promotions from carefully selected partners.