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Stamp duty 'becoming harder to afford'
Britons are spending much more than before on stamp duty when they purchase a property, Halifax has said.
According to research from the mortgage lender, average fees for the duty have increased from five per cent of average annual earnings to seven per cent.
The rises are particularly acute in the south-east, with the proportion increasing from seven to 23 per cent.
Nationwide, homebuyers in almost one third of the local authorities surveyed by Halifax had a stamp duty bill equivalent to over 20 per cent of their earnings.
In 2002, this figure stood at just one in twenty.
Commenting on the findings, chief economist at the mortgage lender Martin Ellis said: "[The] trend is most prevalent in the south of England, but other parts of the country are being affected as well.
"The higher stamp duty thresholds have not been altered since their introduction a decade ago: we call on the government to raise all stamp duty thresholds to account for the rise in house prices over the past decade and to index for house price inflation in the future."
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