By PrimeResi.
Black Brick Calls for Stamp Duty Overhaul as Industry Unites Ahead of Spring Statement
Camilla Dell, Managing Director of Black Brick, has added her voice to a chorus of prime property leaders calling on Chancellor Rachel Reeves to reverse the damage done to London’s property market by a decade of stamp duty increases and non-dom tax changes, in a widely-cited industry roundtable ahead of the Spring Statement.
Dell’s diagnosis was characteristically direct. The changes to stamp duty introduced since 2014 have been “like pouring glue into the London property market,” she said — suppressing transactions, removing the incentive to move and steadily hollowing out activity at every level of the market. Her solution is equally clear: revert to the pre-George Osborne slab system, with a top rate of 7% and a 3% surcharge for overseas buyers or second homes.
On non-dom reform, Dell argued that the government’s approach had been unnecessarily blunt. “A much smarter move would have been to keep the regime intact and instead charge a much bigger annual fee for non-doms to retain their tax status,” she said — a position that would have preserved London’s appeal to international wealth while still raising meaningful revenue. Instead, Black Brick has been fielding calls from clients selling up specifically because they do not want their entire estate drawn into UK inheritance tax.
Dell also flagged the unintended consequences of the Renters’ Rights Bill, which she warned could accelerate the landlord exodus and reduce rental supply — ultimately harming the very tenants the legislation is designed to protect.
The roundtable, which brought together leading estate agents, buying agents, developers and mortgage brokers, reflected near-unanimous concern across the prime sector: without meaningful tax reform, London risks cementing its reputation as an increasingly inhospitable destination for international wealth and domestic movers alike.
As featured in London Property
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