Thought Id start this one going because its rather dead on this board at the moment and I suppose all my usual muckers are either at the Stella tennis event watching Dim Tim (lose again) or at Henly Regatta eating cucumber sandwiches (they wish,...NOT).

Anyway please feel free to just talk to yourself blast away and let it go on any company or subject you wish. Just wish Id thought of this one before.

cheers GF.

Just to clear the haze.

http://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/lawyers-paid-10000-per-deal-in-stamp-duty-selling-frenzy-on-london-megahomes-9902747.html?origin=internalSearch

Here is a story that some of you will like.

London home sales worth hundreds of millions of pounds were raced through to exchange last night in a dramatic scramble to beat the midnight deadline for higher stamp duty rates.

The extraordinary “stamp duty stampede” was triggered by George Osborne’s huge shake-up of the tax announced in the Autumn Statement. It means that anyone paying more than £937,000 for a property will be saddled with a bigger bill from today.

A buyer of a £2.5 million home will have to pay £38,750 extra, while a £10 million mansion will attract £413,750 more tax. London is the only region of the country that will be worse off as a result of the reforms.

Exhausted agents and solicitors across central London said normally sedate offices had resembled City trading floors as “highly stressed” clients urged them to speed deals through to exchange.

The savings were so huge that in some cases lawyers were promised £10,000 “success fees” to get the paperwork finished by 11.59pm.

James Robinson, a director at central London mews specialist estate agent Lurot Brand, said: ”I was on the phone until midnight with six solicitors who all earned a lot of money last night, When we got the first deal through I thought ‘thank goodness for that’ and we went across the road for a bottle of wine.



“Then we looked at each other and said ‘hang on what about the other two.’ We had to get one of the clients out of bed as he was in America. We got the last email confirming exchange at 11.58pm, it was very close. On one deal the difference was £150,000 in stamp duty. The incentive was £10,000 to each of the lawyers.”

Simon Rose, head of the west Chelsea office at agents Strutt & Parker, said: “We have a very exciting night, it was like election night for us, or the last night of the sales. The office was like a mosh pit, it was urgent and alive. Emails were flying in thick and fast, the last one came in at 11.23.” Mr Rose said three deals have reached exchange all in and around the Fulham Road before the deadline.

The biggest single deal in the London area that went through last night was a £30 million house purchase in the Surrey commuter belt that exchanged at 11.45 saving more than £1.4 million in stamp duty.

Another central London deal worth “several million” went through on a deposit of just £5000 because they was all the buyer could raise at such short notice.

Some solicitors were critical of the way the Chancellor handled the announcement, giving buyers just 10 hours notice of the new arrangements

Jeremy Raj, a partner at solicitors Wedlake Bell, said: “It was a mad panic for several people and confusion for others. Even those making a saving were upset as they only had a matter of hours to work out what the implications were.”

Although 90 per cent of London home buyers will be better off as a result of the mew “progressive” system of stamp duty, ther massive increases paid on more expensive homes means that overall London will contribute more.

Analysis by estate agents Savills suggests London will be hit by an extra £400 million bill, a 12.4 per cent increase.

It also means for the first time London’s contribution will be more than half, around 55 per cent, of the overall sum paid in in England and Wales.

Research by analysts Hometrack showed that the worst affected borough will be Kensington & Chelsea with 54.6 per cent of buyers paying more, followed by the City of Westminster on 38.9 per cent, Camden (26.7 per cent) and Hammersmith (24.8 per cent.)

But a Treasury spokeswoman, though, stressed: “We’re making stamp duty fairer so that people only pay tax on the part of the property that falls within each band - the average London property will pay £4,900 less stamp duty.

“No property up to £937,000 will see any increase in stamp duty.”

Wimbledon Conservative MP Stephen Hammond said: “The reform to stamp duty will be really welcomed by nine out of ten Londoners especially those getting on the property ladder.

“I hope the Chancellor will look out for some of London’s hard working families who won’t benefit as the economy recovers.”

Mr Osborne denied that the shake-up would create a housing bubble.

“I don’t agree. I think you shouldn’t be using unfair, punitive taxes that are very badly-designed to achieve the goal of having a stable housing market,” he told BBC radio.

“What you should be doing is making sure people can afford mortgages and giving you central bank, the Bank of England, the powers to turn off the tap slowly if they feel that a housing boom is developing –that is what I have done.”

fred their are over 5 m unemployed this gov uses false figures a person on zero hours is not employed .
this gov is a gov of cons

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-2861652/RICHARD-LITTLEJOHN-going-gets-tough-Clegg-clears-off.html

Come on Hays answer the question..............

how can he unless he tells lies . hays knows the figures are fiction or just bloody lies

over 5m on out of work benefits just worded different
and yes I do no the facts have a friend who is a top person in dhss

Its always the samed with the TORIES they pretend unemployment is under control.......

Under control my ass.

Thatcher did it, now Camoron is copying.

God help any government when the cyclical down turn comes.

At least 2.5 million added to unemployment OVERNIGHT.

Go on TANKER your on brilliant form today.

Well done.

gf you are mostly correct and 100% correct on this issue
what will happen if we have a real big down turn and over 7m immigrants
claiming benefits the uk will crash and I think that is what Osborne is telling the uk
this week . all these non jobs on zero hours and those that are unemployed and paid via in work benefits which fiddles the unemployment figures

he he ha ha LOL.............brilliant headlines.

Voters like Osborne's stamp duty cut (but not Osborne)

(coke head)

https://yougov.co.uk/news/categories/politics/

Latest YouGov / The Sun results 4th December - Con 31%, Lab 32%, LD 7%, UKIP 15%

this government have targeted the disabled because they know they can not riot on the streets and just die of cold or hunger
the most evil bastards ever been in power .

the uk must vote these out for ever
cameron the man who never answer a question a liar

Spot on TANKER your in brilliant form today.

Hays as been swept away by you............well done.

HAYS it wont go away...............

polls . well my family and all at the club and hundreds of family and friends not one of us as ever been asked our views . we have always voted tory now we will not
so how they can say tory votes holding up well is shite
our mp will lose is seat .

and now it looks like another tory is going to lose is are resign

ohhhhhhhhhh look hes still at it..........

hays is trolling the press to find some thing worth posting
he is brain dead

Is Giddeon on a sponsorsed snook in????????????

LOL.