As you may well be aware, the Chancellor has just raised the threshold for Stamp duty to £500,000 until the 31st March 2021. Whilst this is better than nothing, there is an urgent need for far more drastic measures.

Over the last 2/3 decades, we have seen the property ladder literally pulled up from the reach of the younger generation and that reaches far beyond stamp duty. In the first instance, there is a desperate need for a government backed scheme for ALL 1st time buyers who are in need, to ensure that they have a 95% mortgage available to them, if not more.

We all peddle the notion about property creating wealth, but I would urge you to consider that this generation’s equity, is the next generation’s debt and there comes a time for humility and less economic arrogance, because over the next decade or so, there will be a sharp decline in buyers in the 30s & 40s coming through and that will be catastrophic economically, politically and socially.

There is also the matter of the disgraceful disparity between the base rate and the standard variable rate. Anyone who has had any financial upset during the recent crisis, who’s mortgage deal is coming to an end will struggle to get another, because the best deals Cherry Pick borrowers, this is about people’s homes, not luxury goods.

The difference between the Base rate and the standard variable rate used to be as little as 0.5% no it is around 5% This means that those in the most fortunate position can get deals at less than 2% yet those who may not have a steady income or have even had a late payment cannot.

The market may be crawling along, but unless something major is done, the stagnation will continue and when the stamp duty holiday ends it will cause a rush of completions followed by a slump, just as the end of double tax relief did in 1988. It should have been tapered out over months, not cut off overnight.