14/07/2008 : Stamp duty changes in the pipeline?
The government is looking at potential changes to the Stamp Duty rules with a view to trying to kick start house purchases again. Any moves in this area would be welcome, but it is unlikely that a Stamp Duty change in isolation to other measures would succeed in making any signicant changes to the housing market. 'It would be wrong to say definitively that nobody is looking at it,' a Treasury source told the Mail on Sunday. 'Ministers and officials are very exercised about the housing market and they are looking at a lot of different measures.' Last month, Chancellor Alistair Darling held talks with senior mandarins and economists at his Dorneywood country residence to brainstorm ideas for this autumn's crucial pre-Budget report. Any proposals on stamp duty will not be revealed before then, unless the meltdown accelerates. But ministers' growing desire to prop up the housing market was evident from a meeting between housing minister Caroline Flint and experts from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors where plans for reforming stamp duty were discussed.

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