Stamp duty is killing Britain’s stagnant housing market. Transactions have fallen to pre-pandemic lows, a majority of households are “under-occupied” and house prices are still vertiginously high. First-time buyers and movers no longer want to write big cheques to Jeremy Hunt, and those that do out of necessity are stretching themselves so they never have to move again. The average stamp duty bill now sits at £9,000, up from £6,000 a decade ago. But it’s not only those taking the first steps on the property ladder who are being penalised. Older people who want to downsize to smaller homes have no incentive for doing so, exacerbating the shortage of family homes. Alistair Nimmo, of Family Building Society, said the ever-rising tax was stopping homeowners from downsizing and moving closer to family. “It’s a regressive, transactional tax – and it is clear our members feel the same. One told us he’d rather be carried out of his house in a box than pay stamp duty.” Stamp duty has lined the pockets of countless chancellors throughout the 21st century. But the weight of the duty on housing markets and families’ finances is no longer possible to ignore. Residential stamp duty land tax...