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Leading members of the property industry have called for the Government to make radical changes to the stamp duty regime when buying residential property. Duncan Owen, chief executive of Invista Real Estate Investment Management Ltd, says: "To help the market Government needs to allow stamp duty to be calculated at the rate of the individual property regardless of whether it is acquired individually or collectively, not at the rate of the collective price.” This stance is backed by the British Property Federation, who say this approach would greatly reduce costs for large investors buying a portfolio of properties which they could then professionally manage. Others are calling for more drastic action. John Savage, director of Cornwall Residential Landlords Association wants the Government to abolish (even if only temporarily) SDLT, whilst James Kingdom, Colliers CRE's head of residential research suggests: Government must look to extend the stamp duty holiday. A bit like the VAT cut, the stamp duty exemption for homes below £175,000 had the right intention but was too little or ineffective to have a real impact."
