The uncertain election result has created some nerves amongst buyers, who are often waiting to see what potential rises there may be in terms of taxes and interest rates.

After falls of over 16% in 2008, 2010 had seen a more positive outlook in house prices, with a sluggish start to the year turning into a gentle recovery – annual growth rose by double figures for the first time in April.

However, figures released this week suggest the number of new home mortgage approvals has dropped by 30,000 to 144,000 between January and March compared to the previous 3 months.

The end of the Government’s stamp duty holiday at the end of 2009 has contributed to this decline – which encouraged buyers to rush through purchases on lower-value properties during that period.

What The Parties Have Been Saying

In the last Budget, the Labour government promised that first-time buyers in the next two years would be exempt from paying stamp duty on properties costing less than £250,000.

The current bottom threshold of £125,000 was doubled, where people pay 1% of the property value above this amount. A higher rate of 5% paid on properties worth £1 million+ would be used to fund the changes to the system.

The Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats echoed this move in their proposals, though the latter also proposed an additional annual ‘mansion tax’ on properties worth over £2 million.

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