NI house hunters cheer Osborne’s stamp duty cuts

House hunters in the North will have good reason to cheer the UK chancellor's latest tax moves which could give them more money to spend on the home of their dreams - even if George Osborne has temporarily dashed the corporation tax pipe dream for Northern Ireland.

The Chancellor’s moves to reform UK stamp duty rates on residential property will change the way rates apply to property values.

Anybody buying a property worth up to £125,000 will not pay any stamp duty while house hunters looking at properties with a value of up to £185,000 will from mid-night pay £1,200 in stamp duty instead of the£1,850 which they would have done today.

According to research from the University of Ulster the average price of a house in the North during the third quarter of 2014 was £141,173.

Market boost

Ben Collins, the Northern Ireland director of the RICS (Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors) says the new reformed system could deliver a boost to the local housing market.

“Time and time again RICS has called for these changes to stamp duty structure. These changes will reduce distortion and help cut out ‘dead zones’ in the market.

“Northern Ireland has seen activity in the housing market recover somewhat at the lower end, but there has been less of a recovery further up. Reforming the stamp duty threshold has the potential to remove a glass ceiling and to encourage and support greater activity in the £250,000 to £300,000 bracket,” Mr Collin said.

Under the new stamp duty rules properties worth up to £275,000 will see the rate of duty fall from £8,250 to £3,750 - delivering a saving of £4,500 for house buyers.

Passenger duty

One other new tax move that will be warmly welcomed in the North according to the chief economist of PWC NI is changes to air passenger duty (APD).

From next May children under 12 will no longer be charged APD which should mean cheaper flights.

Dr Esmond Birnie said: "While any reduction in Air Passenger Duty will be welcomed by the airline industry, a reduction of APD for junior fliers will have most impact on families struggling with the increased cost of holidays.

“This a particular issue for families in Northern Ireland who often have to fly to another UK airport in order to make holiday flight connections

“For children flying long-haul, this could cut the cost of a plane ticket by up to £71 per child and short haul by £13.”

Brian Ambrose, chief executive of George Best Belfast City Airport added: "This good news comes on the back of another strong year for the City Airport in the announcement of new domestic and European routes. 2015 looks set to deliver double digit growth for the airport with further planned investment in our facilities.

“It is increasingly apparent that the ultimate removal of APD would be good for business, good for tourism and good for government.”

Children’s TV

But the best new tax move of all unveiled by George Osborne in his latest Autumn Statement at least according to one Bafta winning and Emmy nominated Belfast company is a tax break that will directly help its business.

A new children’s TV tax relief will be introduced from April 2015 which will allow companies to claim 25 per cent of qualifying production spending back through the relief.

As far as SixteenSouth is concerned it is “fantastic news”.