More and more houses hit inheritance tax threshold
Estate Agents - 25/09/2006 16:49:42
Estate agents are still raking in the profits after a survey revealed that house prices in one in ten English towns exceed the inheritance tax threshold.
The Halifax said that out of 482 towns studied, 48 were revealed to have buyers struggling to pay in excess of £285,000.
Most of the high priced towns were located in the south with Wilmslow and Ilkley being the only places up north where buying a home could make you liable for inheritance tax.
In the capital, more than a third of all the London boroughs had property prices that went over the tax threshold.
Tim Crawford, an economist with Halifax, said: "We call on the government to raise the inheritance tax threshold to £430,000.
"Doing so would allow for the significant increase in property prices over the past decade."
Halifax said that the growing number of homes eligible for inheritance tax was evidence of a "continuing failure" to index-link the threshold with house price inflation.
If you are thinking of moving house or would like to know what your property is worth, you can find estate agents in your area on our online listings who would be happy to carry out a valuation.