§ Mr. Rookerasked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list Government contributions since 1979 towards reducing the costs of buying and selling homes.
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§ Mr. John PattenIn 1980 and 1982 the stamp duty thresholds were raised by £5,000 on each occasion. In 1984 the thresholds were again raised and the main rate of duty reduced to 1 per cent.
The relaxaton of restrictions on solicitors' advertising has already resulted in significant reductions in conveyancing costs. The Government have added further competitive impetus through legislation which allows qualified non-solicitors to carry out conveyancing for reward. In addition, we intend to bring forward legislation to allow building societies to expand their activities in the house transfer market. The increased competition will benefit house buyers and sellers directly.
The Government's commitment to making house buying and selling cheaper and simpler is reflected in the establishment of a Standing Committee on Conveyancing in October of this year. The committee's first objective will be to bring about improvements within two years which will be apparent to ordinary housebuyers and sellers.