After yesterday’s announcement that the government has lifted the stamp duty threshold from £125,000 to £175,000, there’s been a sharp rise in the share prices of a number of housebuilders. The changes saw shares in Taylor Wimpey and Bovis Homes jump by 8% and Persimmon by 10%.
The move has been welcomed by the industry but Alistair Darling has been criticised for not going further to tackle the mortgage lending crisis with Taylor Wimpey's Chief Executive saying that: “The package is a group of incrementally small but helpful things, that won’t kick start the market.”
John Stewart of the Home Builders Federation echoed this sentiment predicting that an estimated 10,000 new homes would be built as a result of the measures but also warned that: “…at the end of the day, if people can’t get a mortgage, they can’t do anything.”
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