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Rishi Sunak
The think tank argues that scrapping the stamp duty holiday would stimulate greater activity in the housing market.
Alternatively, if stamp duty is not to be abolished, the think says that the government should focus on permanently increasing the stamp duty threshold to £500,000 for property sales in England and Northern Ireland
A report from the Centre for Policy Studies warns that the lessons of major crises, such as world wars, is that countries should slash taxes to encourage business investment.
Report author Jethro Elsden said: “A key lesson from post-war recovery is that interventionist, high-spending policies lead to lower and slower economic growth.
Over half of conveyancers want SDLT on property purchasers under £500,000 to be scrapped if the government continues with its plan to end the SDLT holiday on 31 March, according to a poll run by Index West Midlands.
More than half (51%) think scrapping stamp duty will be the best course of action, but a fifth still believe the value banding rates have a place and should return to normal from the 1 April.
Around a quarter of conveyancers believe a gradual reintroduction of stamp duty is preferable to an overnight return to the stamp duty charges if the government sticks to its plan to end the holiday on the 31 March.
The government has been called on to rethink its plans to finish the existing stamp duty holiday on March 31 and extend it or face the risk of turmoil in the economy and property sector.
Kate Bould (pictured), managing director of bespoke property search firm Index West Midlands, said it is “critical” the government succumb to pressure to extend the stamp duty (SDLT) holiday beyond the current deadline “for the sake and future of the economy and the property sector”.
She said: “As the country has battled the consequences of lockdown measures to tackle and control COVID, the SDLT holiday has thrown the residential property sector and everyone working in it, a vital lifeline.