Buyers in England are landed with average bills of £2,300 on top of the cost of their new property and the figure rises to more than £6,000 in the south east. The radical overhaul would mean 90 percent escaped having to pay and the shortfall in Treasury coffers should be partly covered by a new charge on purchases from overseas investors, the Centre for Policy Studies (CPS) said. The influential centre-right think tank called on the government to consider the changes ahead of an election.

Report author Alex Morton, a former housing adviser to David Cameron in No 10, said stamp duty is a deeply unpopular tax on aspiration.

He said: “While the Treasury are right to be fiscally focused, they need to take into account the fact that stamp duty on homes has an impact on transactions, which means cutting this tax is cheaper than expected. 

“We propose a far more appropriate rate for the most valuable homes – and taking nine out of 10 people who just want to buy a decent home for themselves and their family out of the tax altogether.”

Stamp duty rates have risen from a maximum of one per cent in 1997 to up to 12 percent for the most expensive homes.

Cutting it by one percent increases house sales by around 20 percent, according to the report.

It found the tax is “crippling” mobility and aspiration because it makes it harder to get on the housing ladder, people are less willing to move and it hampers sales.

The CPS called for a four percent levy on homes between £500,000 and £1 million, rising to five percent for anything above that. The levy would only be imposed on the value of a property above the thresholds.

Overseas non-resident buyers, who snap up properties as an investment, would face a three percent surcharge.

The report said foreign investors push up the prices of expensive homes and the impact trickles down by increasing the cost at the cheaper end of the market.

CPS director Robert Colvile said: “It’s no coincidence that stamp duty is one of the taxes that people hate the most. It’s a huge barrier to people living in the kind of homes that best fit their families and their lives. And as our report has shown, the current sky-high levels are doing more harm than good.

“We urge the Government to take bold action to stamp down on stamp duty, and get the property market moving again.”

Building UK’s eco-homes future

By Paul Jeeves

Britain could become a global leader when it comes to building state-of-the-art green homes. 

Housing Minister Esther McVey yesterday unveiled plans to turn the north of England into the construction industry’s equivalent of
Silicon Valley. 

She is keen to create modular house building factories along the M62 corridor – between Liverpool and Hull, via Manchester and Leeds – that will specialise in manufacturing carbon-neutral modular homes. 

The eco-friendly prefabs, which are made out of wood and can cut energy bills by as much as 70 percent, can be precision-built within a week and erected on site in a single day. 

Huge names in the construction industry, such as Laing O’Rourke and Urban Splash, have already started investing in the technology in a bid to cut costs and speed up delivery. Ms McVey, who unveiled a £38million cash boost to speed-up house building on Thursday, said the homes could provide the answer to Britain’s housing crisis and help regenerate deprived communities. 

She also believes modernising the construction industry would help the “next generation realise the dream of home-ownership”. 

Currently, demand continues to outstrip supply by around 80,000 homes per year. 

The Liverpool-born Cabinet member this week invited the Daily Express to join her at the Climate Innovation District in Leeds, which was recently crowned the nation’s best sustainable development. 

All of the open-plan house frames are constructed just 300m away at the Citu factory, where sustainability is forged into every aspect of the cleverly-designed two, three and four-bedroom properties. 

They are powered by solar panels, have huge triple-glazed windows and are insulated using recycled glass wool, which retains heat so well gas boilers are no longer needed. 

Ms McVey told how the development – nestled on the banks of the River Aire, just a 10-minute walk from the city centre – represents the future of house-building. 

“It is incredibly exciting,” she said. “We are increasingly hearing people say, ‘We want to protect the environment’, and have concerns about their carbon footprint – not just the energy they use but actually in how the home is built. 

“A lot of people also want inner-city living as well, so we have to think how do you best use the space you have got to deliver this. 

“Also in the city, people can walk – they don’t need a car and public transport is more accessible. All the component parts fit together in cutting carbon emissions.” 

The minister pointed out that while most industries have made good use of technology, house-building predominantly remains an age-old skill that has lasted “since Roman times”. 

Of the 240,000 homes built in the UK last year, 215,000 were made using bricks and mortar. Ms McVey said: “Only 10 percent of our homes are built this new way and while there will always be a space for traditional build, it’s got to be about increasing choice. 

“Housing has been slow to industrialise and modernise but this represents a changing point. We are now asking, ‘How can we do that?’” 

She said she hoped the north of England could be a “world leader” when it comes to creating eco-friendly homes. 

“If we get it right, it would be worth £40billion a year to the country,” she said. “Yes, it’s about green environmental homes but it’s also about safety, it’s about quality, it’s about design and all the components of living in a carbon-neutral community.” 

The minister also believes more young people will be attracted to work in the construction industry if it is an emerging market. 

She claims that if the north can create a house-building version of San Francisco’s Silicon Valley – where internet giants Facebook and Google are based – it will provide people with “skilled, high-quality jobs for life”. She said: “The north of England has the potential to be the construction capital of the country for this new technology, and we need to fully embrace this. 

“This could be a new hub. Think Silicon Valley: the construction corridor.” 

As well as the £38million cash boost announced by Ms McVey earlier this week, the Government has already given £2.5billion of funding to small and medium-sized businesses and innovators through its Home Building Fund. Nick Walkley, chief executive of Homes England, told how there were “enormous benefits” to using modern methods of construction (MMC). He said it would allow for high-quality homes to be built more quickly, address labour and skills shortages and improve energy-efficiency. 

Mark Farmer, chairman of the MMC Working Group, said the UK has a “fantastic opportunity” to become a “true world leader” in using advanced prefab methods.

‘So exciting – it’s the way forward’

Going green is the way forward for university worker Amelia Duncan. 

The 24-year-old recently moved into a light and airy townhouse at Leeds’ Citu development with her partner and so far, they are loving the experience. 

“Without a doubt this is the future of housing,” Amelia said. 

“It is so exciting to be a part of it at the outset and everyone who visits is amazed.” 

Amelia’s stylish open-plan Citu home has been designed to retain heat in the winter and remain cool in the summer. 

Set in a peaceful location by the River Aire, it is powered by sunlight and has a clever ventilation system that ensures there is a constant flow of fresh air into the home. 

“It’s definitely not a hippy commune – it’s what people now want,” Amelia said. 

“I can’t see how housing will go any other way than like this.” 

Her neighbours, Rob and Pam Clulow, sold their three-bedroom semi in the market town of Otley, West Yorkshire, to move to their £400,000 home on the cutting-edge development. 

The couple insisted they “couldn’t be happier”. 

“People thought we were mad moving here but the sustainability of the house was a huge attraction,” said cake maker Pam, 54. 

“I used to feel the cold but I’m never cold here. We don’t even need the heating on. 

“Rather than just grow old and wait to retire, we wanted to be close to the city so we could go out to watch live bands and see the best of what the city has to offer.” 

Business development manager Rob, 55, added: “We have so far only had one set
of utility bills but they were considerably lower than we
are used to. 

“This is the future – we need to ban gas boilers and make all windows triple-glazed.” 

COMMENT BY CHRIS THOMPSON

Our mission is to accelerate the transition to zero-carbon cities by creating places that make it easy to live more sustainably. 

Our Climate Innovation District in Leeds will feature more than 800 low-carbon homes alongside manufacturing, offices, leisure facilities, a school and a care home. 

We show that a net-zero-carbon life not only improves its quality but saves money and provides the environmental mitigation that we all need to meet to fight climate change. 

Our timber-framed homes are built to the highest standards of energy performance which allows them to forgo gas boilers. The small amount of heating required is electric. 

But it’s not just the homes that are sustainable. We’ve found the best communities share three key characteristics: they’re not dominated by cars, they’re of a density that is human in scale and they have an identity and cohesion that makes them a place in their own right. 

That’s why we only build on brownfield sites in urban areas. 

For those who still need a car, we install electric chargers in spaces. 

Our vision is for all aspects, from the climate-conscious design to the technology and natural environment, to come together to create a safe, sustainable and healthy district. 

Chris Thompson is Citu Managing Director

COMMENT BY PROF CHRIS GORSE

The development in Leeds is visionary and an essential model for developers to follow. 

What they have achieved and how they are managing to integrate the zero-carbon agenda with a mission to develop a culture for more sustainable city living is impressive. 

The loss in plant and animal life in the UK is extraordinarily bad. We’re wiping out our greatly valued wildlife, with over 40 percent of our species in decline. 

Other than improved aerodynamics there is a reason we no longer wipe bugs off our car windscreen, and when talking to the marine biology experts, the situation in our rivers and seas is far worse. Our children can’t catch the sticklebacks and minnows that once filled our nets. 

Citu have been on the journey towards sustainable living for over a decade, but their concern for our wildlife has gone to the top of their agenda. The developers have captured the opportunity to sow grasses and plants that help create a more resilient wildlife. Those that are buying houses in this area are buying into a very different way of living. 

The positive attitude is one that other developers should follow. It’s more than a sales pitch, and something we desperately need if we are to stop our wildlife declining. 

Prof Chris Gorse is Sustainability expert

Source: Read Full Article