We all know that a number of years ago, the former Chancellor Osborne hiked Stamp Duty (SDLT) rates for properties above £900,000 and this has now caused a DIY recession in the London Residential Property Market, such that turnover of sales is down by 70% and values by about 25% from the former highs of 2014.
In some sectors the market is stodgy and illiquid. What did Osborne expect?
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Well, ‘the lady is for turning’ after all!
Following today’s announcement that there will be a June Election, undoubtedly there will be a degree of uncertainty until the results are fully known. However, it is far preferable to have this turmoil now, than for instance ‘further down the track’ when she is trying to ‘close down’ on a difficult Brexit negotiation with our awkward European partners in 2019.
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1. John Major the incorrigible dinosaur…how do we shut him up?
What is this old political ‘war horse’ doing pontificating on our TV screens and the press about a second referendum and trumpeting the virtues of the EU? Did he not know the outcome of the last year’s referendum where the people decided? Lest we forget, this is the man that got us into the ERM, the precursor of the Euro, in the first place, many years ago, at the wrong rate, which we subsequently stumbled out of in the 1992 ignominious devaluation and thank goodness for this country that we did!