Rachael Hamilton MSP has criticised the Scottish Government for failing to replicate the reduction in stamp duty in Scotland.
Yesterday, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced in the Budget that the property purchase tax has been suspended until the end of June, on the first £500,000 of all sales in England and Northern Ireland.
The stamp duty holiday was introduced to help buyers as a result of the Covid pandemic and boost sales following a downturn during the first lockdown.
Yet in Scotland, the finance secretary Kate Forbes said recently that the reduction in Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT) would not be extended beyond March 31st. The nil threshold for LBTT was raised from £145,000 to £250,000 last July.
The average price of a home in the Borders rose by 10% between December 2019 and December 2020.
With the average house price for the Borders now standing at £174,140, the average home would no longer under the threshold and would be subjected to LBTT.
Mrs Hamilton has called on the Scottish Government for an LBTT holiday extension, to avoid stagnation in the housing market.
Rachael Hamilton MSP said:
“The SNP’s failure to continue the LBTT holiday will be damaging to the Scottish and Borders housing market, at a time when we need to be rebuilding the economy.
“Yet a few miles over the border a family could buy a house in Berwick, up to the value of £500,000, and not pay a single penny of stamp duty.
"The SNP have decided not to give the same support to buyers in Scotland, despite receiving over £10billion in additional pandemic funding from the UK Government.
“Many Borders’ families who have been considering moving will be thinking twice, especially if their finances are stretched.
“I urge the SNP Government to rethink the decision not to extend the LBTT holiday, as the stamp duty holiday in England is putting Scotland at a disadvantage.”