Call for temporary return of MIRAS

The Government should temporarily reintroduce mortgage interest relief at source (MIRAS) and abolish stamp duty on properties worth under £1 million, tax consultant Mazars has insisted.

Were the recommendations to be enacted for two years, said the company, they would give the UK property market a badly needed boost and re-invigorate the stalling economy.

Figures released last month by the Council of Mortgage Lending (CML) figures showed that gross UK residential mortgage lending had fallen to £9.9 billion, down 15% cent since January and a 60% drop on the same period the previous year.

The CML numbers also suggested that the average home-mover borrows £121,497 and spends 13.2% of his or her income on interest payments, a figure that rises to 17.1% for first-time buyers.

Re-enacting MIRAS up to £50,000 in next month’s Budget, therefore, could save homeowners £500 each and compensate those not benefiting from the fall in interest rates, claimed Mazars.

The company’s head of property, Stacy Eden, added: ‘If the same government that withdrew MIRAS – rejecting it as little more than a middle-class perk in 2000 – reintroduced it in 2009, Gordon Brown would be helping far more than just the middle-classes.

‘In fact, if he committed to a double-whammy by also abolishing stamp duty below £1 million, he could be viewed as a hero across all of the home-owning classes.’

Categories: News , Budget 2009 , MIRAS , Land & property