Despite it being the silly season Jenner Group has been really busy and handling some larger property sales and some bigger residential mortgages (bit of a rarity for us) and the issue of Stamp Duty has been cropping up.

Two buyers had totally failed to comprehend how much the Stamp Duty was going to be and there was some urgent recalculating as to whether a new mortgage would get through the onerous "affordability" tests...one was going to be fine the other was going to be pretty tight. Some family money was made available.

We are also working with a couple who wish to trade down after owning their property for 50 years...our main interest is in the development potential of some units on the property but the house will not be effected..as owners they simply had not realised just how much the Stamp Duty would be until I broke it down.

The house and grounds excluding what we are interested in is valued at £1,500,000. When I  mentioned Stamp Duty the husband asked what the buyer would be paying and I did the calculations and showed the figure....just under £100,000.

The eventual buyer is going to pay more to the Government in Stamp Duty than the owners paid for the whole estate.

Now here is a suggestion from a rustic in Somerset..why don't they reverse the Stamp Duty and have it paid by the Vendor..they are the ones who have benefited from the boom in property value?

As somebody involved in property investment and development I can see there are advantages in this idea. It would make properties more affordable for the "normal" people and would also squash  a lot of the hype and speculation that goes around new build units...you won't want to put your money into a short term flip if there is a thumping tax bill to pay..so exit the property speculator. (A different creature to the property investor or developer)

The UK property market is overheated and whilst different experts cite different reasons I am in the camp that feels the liberation of the Banking System under Maggie didn't help. When income multiples were enforced at 3 or 3.5x salary and there had to be proof of  a deposit and an ability to save  the property market moved in a more logical pattern. Prices would rise until the first time or second time buyer would say "Sorry I can't afford that" and the market would adjust.

The development of the Buy-to-Let sector has had a far bigger impact on stopping property values falling than many people realise but has also provided a huge number of extra homes that wouldn't have been there so whether one thinks all Buy-to-Let landlords are bad news or are a tenant who has been able to get a long term rental property because of Buy-to-let thfact is that the Private Rental Sector is now an integral part of the UK property infrastructure and is here to stay.

The British have a fixation about owning their own home and the revenue generated from property sales is not insignificant but there are some big problems that need to be resolved and this would be a simple tweak that has great potential.

Who has the ear of the right Government Department!!!