A coalition of property experts and housing organisations are calling for the government to reform the current stamp duty regime which it claims is distorting the property market.
Members of the 1808 Coalition, named after the year in which stamp duty was first introduced, said that the government should abolish stamp duty outright or implement an alternative.
Alternatives proposed by the group include suspending stamp duty until the housing market has recovered, increasing the current £175,000 starting threshold or switching to a more progressive system.
Peter Bolton-King, chief executive of the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) said: "The coalition believes that stamp duty is an anachronistic tax which, in its current form, is preventing a recovery in the housing sector."
"It limits market flexibility, creates regional inequality and its slab structure unfairly distorts the housing market. With the pre-Budget report due soon, now is the time for the government to take action."
Michael Coogan, director general of the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) added: "We urge the Government to announce a comprehensive and long-overdue review of stamp duty. Reform is needed of a tax that distorts the housing market."
The 1808 Coalition was established by the National Association of Estate Agents and the Association of Residential Letting Agents and is also supported by the
Association of Mortgage Intermediaries (AMI), the Building Societies Association, Council of Mortgage Lenders, Home Builders Federation and the National Landlords Association.
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