Announcement contained in supporting documents of autumn statement

Chancellor George Osborne has ended the extra stamp duty relief designed to help first time homes buyers, as part of today鈥檚 autumn statement.

In the documents supporting today鈥檚 statement, it emerged that the stamp duty relief on all house purchases worth up to 拢175,000 will be cut, meaning stamp duty will be paid on all purchases worth more than 拢125,000.

The change will come into effect on 24 March next year.

The documents said: 鈥淭he government is publishing analysis showing that the stamp duty land tax relief for first time buyers has been ineffective in increasing the number of first time buyers entering the market. This relief will therefore end on 24 March 2012 as planned.鈥�

It said the government was instead prioritising 鈥渕ore effective measures which provide better value for money鈥� contained in last week鈥檚 housing strategy.

Steve Turner, spokesperson for the Home Builders鈥� Federation, said: 鈥淚t鈥檚 disappointing because we know the issues first time buyers are facing. Ideally he would have left stamp duty as it was. However, if you take it in conjunction with last week鈥檚 announcement on mortgage lending then clearly overall there鈥檚 still less pressure on first time buyers.鈥�

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