A coalition of letting agents’ and landlords’ associations has welcomed a call by several backbench Labour MPs to extend the stamp duty holiday on properties worth less than £175,000.

An Early Day Motion has been put forward on the issue by Lindsay Hoyle and has been backed by MPs including Jeremy Corbyn, Jon Cruddas and David Crausby.

The move by the politicians has been welcomed by the 1808 Coalition, which is campaigning for stamp duty reform and is made up of industry bodies including Arla, the Council of Mortgage Lenders and the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA).

Peter Bolton-King, chief executive of the NAEA, said: “If the stamp duty exemption is not extended at this fragile point of recovery, we fear that months of work will instantly unravel causing a great deal of damage to the market.”

He pointed out that more than 90 per cent of estate agents have called for the threshold to remain in place.

But the stamp duty exemption is due to be lifted in early 2010.

Earlier this week, Arla also called on the government to introduce capital allowances for landlords to improve ageing properties as part of plans to increase the quality of the UK’s housing stock.

Published: 03-Dec-2009

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