Stamp Duty Land Tax Bill

Jake Berry Excerpts

Wednesday 10th December 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Gauke]

The hon. Gentleman should bear in mind that almost 217,000 affordable homes have been delivered since April 2010. Between 2011 and 2015, some £19.5 billion of public and private investment is going into affordable homes, and we are on track for the highest rate of affordable house building in at least two decades. The Government are delivering on all aspects of how we ensure that we give people the opportunity to have decent housing. These SDLT reforms will give another boost to people wishing to fulfil their aspirations to own the place they live in.

[Jake Berry (Rossendale and Darwen) (Con)]

I apologise to the House for not being here for the start of the debate. I am sure that the Minister will be aware that when the previous Government introduced a new SDLT regime, there were several avoidance schemes, most of which involved sub-selling at below the market value. I applaud the Bill and look forward to its passage through the House. Will he confirm that the anti-avoidance measures under the previous regime will be read over to this Bill to stop the abuse of the tax system?

[Mr Gauke]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for raising that point, because the Government have addressed this issue fully during this Parliament. A few years ago, SDLT was starting to develop a reputation as a tax that was easily abused—he mentioned one means by which that was done—but this Government have introduced several measures to deal with that. We have seen a substantial decline in the marketing of SDLT avoidance schemes, and the introduction of the annual tax on enveloped dwellings has been successful in discouraging avoidance. He is right to highlight the issue, but we are making changes in the context of an SDLT that is perhaps less leaky than when we came into office a few years ago. That enables us to make our changes, which benefit properties in a way that is, none the less, affordable for the Exchequer. As the Chancellor made clear last week, the policy will deliver a tax bill cut for 98% of people who pay SDLT, and the previous economic distortions in the system have been removed, which benefits the housing market generally.

[Mr Gauke]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for raising that point, which we debated briefly last week. Particular issues with the residential market meant that we needed to address that quickly, and some of the pressures to reform the system applied particularly to the residential market. Clearly, any Government will want to keep this matter under review, so I would not want to rule out looking at the commercial market. However, the imperative was to press on for the residential market, and no doubt commercial property and SDLT is a matter to which the Government will wish to return in the future. I know that he welcomes these reforms, and I should point out that more than 99% of transactions in his constituency will benefit from our changes.

[Jake Berry]

What will be the SDLT position when there is a mixture of residential and commercial property? How will a shop with a flat above it, for example, be treated under the new SDLT regime?

[Mr Gauke]

The residential property would be considered under the new residential regime, and an evaluation would be needed to distinguish between the commercial and the residential premises.

This reform will improve the fairness and efficiency of the tax system. It will make a real, tangible, positive difference to the lives of people up and down the country, and I hope that hon. Members will think fit to give the Bill a Second Reading.

--- Later in debate ---

[Priti Patel]

Property in the buy-to-let framework would be treated as residential.

[Jake Berry]

I refer to the point about flipping between commercial and residential arrangements. My hon. Friend will be aware that one of the welcome reforms of this Government has been to give automatic planning permission for vacant commercial office buildings to become residential property. The substantive implementation of a change of use and planning permission between a commercial office building and a residential property would be minimal and could involve, for example, just bringing in desks and putting in more male and female lavatories. There is concern about avoidance, and where two systems exist, there is greater opportunity for avoidance by those who seek not to pay their tax. Will she commit from the Dispatch Box to keep this matter under review and ensure that as the Government take the Bill through the House, they will review it and seek opportunities to tighten up the law to ensure that everyone pays their fair share of tax?

[Priti Patel]

My hon. Friend makes a valid point about keeping the arrangements under review. We want to ensure that people pay not just their fair share, but the right amount. The Government keep all taxes under review.