Henry Smith
Main Page: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)Department Debates - View all Henry Smith's debates with the Leader of the House
(11 years ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Mr Lansley
I know. I am just making the contrast. If the hon. Gentleman thinks it appropriate to abolish those charges, he will have to find the money from somewhere else. In Wales, they have cut the money for patient services and care in order to subsidise car parking, and that cannot be the right decision.
Henry Smith (Crawley) (Con)
A recent report by the TaxPayers Alliance showed that one fifth of house purchases in my constituency last year were subject to stamp duty of more than £7,500, and that is projected to rise to more than 41% of purchases in the next five years. May we have a debate on the reform of stamp duty?
Mr Lansley
It will not surprise my hon. Friend to learn that stamp duty land tax is an important source of revenue; it raises several billion pounds each year. It is important to consider how best we can support the housing market, and we have taken action in relation to first-time buyers. There are also effective ways of doing this through Help to Buy and the NewBuy guarantee scheme, among others. This is of course something that we continue to look at.