On Sat, 14 Feb 2004 12:32:00 +0000, Andrew
wrote:

In article , Tony Bryer
writes
But it would be easier just to charge everyone 5% g

Including the seller. They could help first time buyers 'at a stroke'
by transferring stamp duty from the buyer to the vendor. This would have
the added advantage of getting some money back from non-dom property
owners who are exempt from CGT even if the latter was extended to the
main residence. It would also claw back more from people selling their
overpriced london piles and moving out the 'country'.

Any nonsense like this, and the vendors (who hold all the cards 'cos
they are the ones with the property!) will simply push the prices up
further. If I know I'm going to have to pay 5% to somebody to buy my
property, then I'm dreadfully sorry and all that, but the price is now
5% higher, okay? And because there is a dearth of new housing yet the
demand is so stong (January increase: 2.2%), I'll have you by the
short and curlies more firmly than ever! Yippee! Thank God for bricks
and mortar!

MM