The threshold at which buyers start to pay stamp duty has risen from £120,000 to £125,000 which will come into effect on sales after the 23rd March this year. The other bands however remain unchanged at 1% between £125,000 and £250,000, 3% between £250,000 and £500,000, and 4% for £500,000 plus.

This rise seems very much a token gesture as The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML), has stated that while 29,000 households would have escaped stamp duty last year if the threshold had been £125,000, in the last 12 months an additional 56,000 households became liable for stamp duty purely as a result of house price rises.

The CML also points out that if Labour had raised stamp duty in line with house price inflation since it came to power, the lower threshold would now be more than £145,000.

According to Rightmove only 16% of UK properties are below the £125,000 threshold and this comes down significantly to only 2.2% in London

Adding to the problems for first time buyers is the withdrawal of many high LTV loans though mortgages expert is still able to source 100% mortgages though a select few lenders which can be found here Best Mortgage Deals

Other home owners were looking for something to stir the property market as this week the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors said that during the past three months, only 4% of surveyors reported prices rising, while 57% said they were falling, a net balance of minus 53% a change in stamp duty taxation may have created some movement especially around the £250,000 mark

The Chancellor has also introduced a scheme to be exempt from Stamp Duty under it's Shared Ownership schemes. Purchasers can purchase up to 80% of the property from a Housing Association and rent the remainder and providing that they never own more that 79% they will pay no stamp duty.

Questions have already arisen as to what happens if the purchaser wants to buy the remaining and own 100% of the property as in effect stamp duty would then be payable and if it is more than £250,000 this could be a considerable expense.