Tax changes for social housing

The Treasury changes stamp duty to encourage more social housing to be built

Author: Localis   |  

Treasury changes to stamp duty land tax will allow arms length management organisations (ALMOs) – companies established by councils to manage housing stock – to develop and build new housing without paying this tax on prospective purchases. ALMOs currently manage over a million council homes and there is a great need to build more. Localis therefore welcomes these changes, but urges government to continue to reform rules limiting Council borrowing powers to provide housing. Councils should do all they can with the freedoms they already have, but we should not underestimate the impact government legislation is having.