Election analysis: SDLT

Speed Read: The SDLT 'holiday' for first-time buyers of residential property costing up to £250,000 and the proposed increase in the rate of SDLT to 5% for homes worth more than £1 million mentioned in Labour's manifesto have already been implemented in the Finance Act 2010. The Conservatives propose permanently extending the relief for first-time buyers. The Liberal Democrats regard purchases of property-owning companies as SDLT avoidance and would introduce a charge to SDLT on transfers of interests in such companies. Each of the three main parties' manifestos refer to 'stamp duty' when they actually mean SDLT.