What will the budget have in store for SDLT?

Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) concessions granted to first time buyers in the 2010 budget come to an end on 24 March this year. The concession, which meant that first time buyers wouldn’t have to pay the 1% SDLT on properties costing between £125,000 and £250,000 has had a fairly limited impact on the housing…

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A fresh look at property

Mention devolution and thoughts inevitably turn to Scotland and the question of a possible referendum. Against this background and almost slipping under the radar, Wales is quietly increasing its own devolved powers. For example, from 31 December 2011, Wales took full responsibility for its own building regulations. One of the first steps announced by the…

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2011, a taxing time

As we say goodbye to 2011 and start digesting the many hundreds of pages which make up the draft legislation for the 2012 finance bill; it is perhaps worth taking stock of the year just past and reflecting on what this might mean for the future of taxation. For many, 2011 was the year of…

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Property tax evasion taskforce

Earlier this month, HMRC announced the launch of a task force wit the brief of tackling “tax evasion on property transactions in Greater London”. The taskforce is to target cases where there is a deliberate failure to comply with the Option to Tax regime. The Option to Tax regime basically allows the supply of land…

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What price larger homes

The head of communications at the Home Builders Federation (HBF) has recently admitted that at the moment the trend for building new homes has moved towards larger properties. Commentating on the current state of the house build market Steve Turner went on to say that “Builders will obviously build what they can sell. People that…

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Government releases housing land

The Housing Minister, Grant Shapps, has today announced ambitious plans for Government and Council held land to be released for housing. With the aim of kick starting the house building industry and creating up to 25,000 jobs, the hope is to build 100,000 new homes on this land by 2015. Every Government department with significant…

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Newshams congratulates the RIBA award winners

The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has announced the winners of the 2011 awards for architectural excellence. The 89 winners in the UK include a community hall in the Hebrides and a self build hideaway in the Lake District as well as fourteen schools and nine university buildings. The awards also give a boost…

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The CIOT comments on SDLT Budget proposals

Within the 2011 Budget, the chancellor, George Osborne, proposed various measures intended to tighten up on Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) avoidance. These proposals form part of the Finance (No 3) Bill which is currently winding its way through Parliament. Due to the complexity of the Bill, whilst some of its clauses were debated by…

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Contraction in construction

Whilst spring heralded signs of recovery in large swathes of the economy, the construction industry continues to buck the trend. Even admitting that the poor weather at the beginning of the year won’t have helped, construction statistics continue to give cause for concern. Starting with the general picture, although the UK as a whole returned…

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