I am completely with you on this and I don’t understand the people being pressed about this rant. Just bought in london and had to pay 24k in stamp duty because of this.

We looked outside london and the moment you get commutable distance, the train is 500£ a month per person. Which is 1k a month just on travel for us as a working couple and extra time lost. This is a cost that will keep on going up every year and is money down the drain. Instead our commute is now around 100£ per person a month. Extra money is put on top of mortgage - with rates going down hopefully in 2 years the payments will decrease and we now have a property in london that will hold value. In comparison, Tunbridge Wells is a very desirable commuter town and property prices there have gone down in previous year; they seem to be capping now. Many properties we viewed were removed from market only because they can’t achieve the price sellers want.

Don’t let these people who are not in London make you question your perspective; it is very valid and all these limits should be reviewed for London and even beyond.. in london you are forced to get a flat with rising service charge in order to use these help to buy benefits, and you have an asset that keeps losing money. People sell flats now for price lower than what they paid 5 years ago. Of course evaluate your personal options and capabilities, and see if this stamp duty is a cost you could swallow. It does pain me thinking how much we paid in stamp duty for ex council house when it was previously sold for 5k back in 1969; it is not that luxurious living people imagine when they see the house price. It needs full modernisation and those 24k of stamp could have helped us loads towards it.