Stamp duty reform - at last!

The big news in property this month has been the Autumn Statement and the changes to how stamp duty is administered. It's great news for most people looking to buy or sell a property. Stamp duty used to be stepped so that, for example, if you went one pound above the cut-off mark of £250,000, you’d suddenly pay three per cent rather than one per cent — of the whole price, not just the money over the limit. That was totally unfair and ridiculous, and essentially used to mean there was a logjam of prices at these thresholds. Under the new system, announced by Chancellor George Osborne if you go over a band, you only pay the higher level of duty on the money over the limit.