§ Mr. DismoreTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps he is taking to permit Muslims to buy 1511W leasehold property on the same or similar basis to freehold within the provisions in the Budget to prevent double stamp duty and allow purchases without payment of interest as a consequence. [188013]
§ Mr. TimmsThe Government want to see consumers benefit from a wide choice and innovation in the financial services market. The Finance Act 2003 introduced two reliefs (s72 and s73) for purchases funded by "alternative property financing", which enables individuals to finance a property without paying interest. The combined effect of these reliefs is to place the amount of stamp duty land tax due when purchasing property using these arrangements on a level footing with the amount due on the purchase of property when using 'conventional' mortgage products. This will remove a significant barrier to the development of alternative property financing, thus benefiting a range of consumers with increased choice in the mortgage market.
The legislation does not discriminate between freehold and leasehold properties, so both can be purchased using alternative property financing without a greater quantity of stamp duty being incurred than under a conventional mortgage.
Department/Agency (a) Set retirement age (a) Maximum retirement age (b) Maximum age employment applications considered HM Treasury Age 60 Age 60 Age 59 Valuation Office Age 60 Age 65 Age 64 Royal Mint Age 60 Age 65 Permanent application up to age 59, Casual applications up to age 64 Debt Management Office Age 60 Age 70 Age 60 unless there is a business justification for an older person National Savings and Investments Age 60 None None—Age like other diversity data is not considered as part of NSI's selection criteria which is purely role related. Office National Statistics Age 65 Age 65 Age 65 Age 64 right tip until 65th Birthday Government Actuaries Dept. Age 60 None None GAD currently does not operate a maximum age limit requirement. Inland Revenue Age 60 Age 65 None up to Age 65 Office of Government Commerce 1Age 60 1None 1None up to retirement age HM Customs and Excise 2— 2— Age 65 1 OGC buying solutions retirement age is currently 65 for Ban 1 (Administrative Officer equivalent) staff and 60 for all other staff. However as with OGC normal staff, consideration would be given to staff working beyond this, subject to business needs. 2 In HM Customs and Excise the set (maximum) retirement age is: 60 for staff at Bands 7 (HEO equivalent) and above, of which there were 7,877 in post (on 1 July 2004); 62 for staff at Bands 5 and 6 (EO equivalent), of which there were 8,143 in post and in post; and 65 for staff at Band 4 (AO equivalent) and below, of which there were 7,182 in post.