Estate agents welcome stamp duty promises

The managing director of Sherry FitzGerald Limited, Michael Grehan has today welcomed the fact that the consumer and stakeholders in the house market now have some more certainty as to the future, given that both alternative governments now have firm proposals for reform of stamp duty before the people.

Mr Grehan went on to say that it had been counterproductive for consumer confidence for the issue to become a political football, and it was good that politicians had now acknowledged the uncertainty that had been created.

He urged politicians of all parties to resist the temptation of being politically territorial on the issue from this point on, adding that it was probably too much to ask in an election campaign, for both alternative governments to agree a consensus on an implementation date and to reconcile the differences between their proposals.

Mr Grehan went on to say that , “aside from consumer confidence, the economy’s future needs to be protected by a reform of stamp duty to encourage natural housing mobility amongst our population”.

“Everybody knows that when a skip arrives on the road after a house is sold, it is the start of a process that involves many different trades and businesses and this is what we need to encourage more of in order to sustain employment levels in the construction industry”.