Overseas buyers spend billions of pounds every year purchasing UK properties. This has immensely benefited the UK economy and created jobs and prosperity for so many. Some of these buyers legitimately use offshore companies to protect their privacy about their worldwide assets.
It was therefore surprising, when the Chancellor increased stamp duty from 5% to 15% for properties over 2 million pounds bought in the name of offshore companies. No local tax payer would ever find it acceptable to pay 3 times more tax, so why did the Chancellor risk undermining the attractiveness of UK properties by scaring foreign investors away?
It is of course absurd to argue that offshore companies are only used by morally repugnant people trying to avoid paying stamp duty. Even if a small minority abuse the system, surely there are better ways of stopping them rather than risk damaging one of Britain’s best sources of foreign investment.
It is equally absurd to believe that the increase in stamp duty and threats of other punitive measures is a small change for wealthy foreign investors and one that would not deter them from purchasing properties in the UK. On the contrary, these hostile measures could easily convince some purchasers that UK bricks and mortar are no longer the world’s best and safest investment in the hands of this government.
We all heard the Chancellor saying that he is a good friend to business. We also heard him saying that he understands the difficulties facing the business community better than most, having witnessed first hand, his father’s hard work in building one of the world’s leading names in wallpaper design. I am sure the Chancellor would forgive people in the property industry if they were to say that with friends like him who needs enemies.
Mamad Kashani Akhavan
