Martin Lewis has slammed the Government's recent stamp duty claim. The money saving expert has described it as 'nonsense', calling for the Treasury to remove its tweet.
It comes after HM Treasury tweeted last week about a first time buyer in London saving money on stamp duty and household energy bills thanks to the newly announced Growth Plan. Mr Lewis took to Twitter this morning to debunk the claims.
HM Treasury tweeted on September 29: "Thanks to the Growth Plan, a typical first time buyer in London moving into a representative terraced house will save £11,250 on stamp duty & £1,050 on the household's energy bills - and if they earn £30,000 almost an additional £400 on tax. This is around £12,700 in total."
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Martin Lewis replied this morning (October 3): "This is nonsense. To make that stamp duty saving you'd need to be buying a £500,000+ property.
"With 10% deposit, cheapest fix mortgage would cost £2,400/mth (£28,000/yr). How can someone on £30k afford that?
"I am asking treasury to remove."
He added in a separate tweet: "Ps of course they'd never get the mortgage in the first place."
Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng announced the "new growth plan" on Friday. Part of the plan was to cut Stamp Duty, with the nil rate band doubling from £125,000 to £250,000.
This means 200,000 more people every year will be able to buy a home without paying any Stamp Duty at all. According to Gov.uk, the standard buyer in England will save £2,500.
Mr Lewis said many people had asked him if they will still get the new rates if they have exchanged homes but not "completed". He replied in a tweet: "In general yes, stamp duty is crystallised at completion (though there can be some exceptions - check with your solicitor)."
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