Money saving guru Martin Lewis has forced the UK Government to remove its claim over stamp duty savings after he dubbed it “nonsense” and “irresponsible”. The Treasury posted on Twitter that a first-time buyer in London could save thousands thanks to its new growth plan cutting stamp duty which was released on Friday.
The post, which has since been deleted, read: “Thanks to the Growth Plan, a typical first-time buyer in London moving into a representative terraced house will save £11,250 on stamp duty & £1,050 on the household’s energy bills – and if they earn £30,000 almost an additional £400 on tax. This is around £12,700 in total.”
But the Money Saving Expert hit back on Twitter, writing: “This is nonsense. To make that stamp duty saving you’d need to be buying a £500,000+ property. With 10% deposit, cheapest fix mortgage would cost £2,400/mth (£28,000/yr). How can someone on £30k afford that. I am asking treasury to remove.”
