Hike in stamp duty is bad for Britain's booming luxury markets, says Harrods boss
Harro's boss Michael Ward says the stamp duty hike has sent a ‘worrying signal’ abroad
A stamp duty tax raid on the London property market by Chancellor George Osborne could damage Britain’s booming luxury markets by putting off wealthy visitors, the managing director of Harrods has warned.
Michael Ward has complained that the decision to hike stamp duty on properties worth upwards of £2 million has sent a ‘worrying signal’ abroad.
In a wide-ranging interview with The Mail on Sunday he criticised a number of Government policies which he said were putting off big-spending visitors from overseas.
He described the stamp duty move as ‘probably inappropriate’.
‘The short-term impact is that the market for £2 million plus houses has now dried up,’ he said. ‘They are never full-time residents, but most of them like to have more permanent residencies rather than just staying in hotels or having serviced apartments.
‘Most of our customers have a residence here as well as having residences elsewhere.
‘People now have choices. If one of those choices leads to a significant level of fees, they will choose to go elsewhere.’
He added: ‘I think people are seen to be less welcome here.’
Ward, whose company is owned by the Qatar Investment Authority, said that if wealthy visitors switch to other European locations for their breaks it would adversely affect Britain’s luxury goods industries.
He said visa approvals in the rest of the EU are far higher than in the UK.
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