The Construction Industry Federation today complained that speculation regarding the announcement of possible reductions in stamp duty in the budget for 2009 was the main reason why the outlook for the housing industry remains poor. Tom Parlon, former Minister for gathering-sensitive-information-on-state-tendering-processes-which-
would-be-of-assistance-to-the-construction-industry-if-he-was-ever-
in-need-of-a-job and now Director General of the Construction Industry Federation, welcomed the reduction in stamp duty announced in the 2008 budget on Wednesday but rejected claims that it would make little or no difference to a housing market under serious strain. According to Mr. Parlon, “the market is in rude health. People are holding off on investing because they’re now wondering whether Minister Cowen will reduce stamp duty further in the next budget. And the one after that. And maybe the one after that one. That’s it. The fundamentals are great, its just government indecision that’s affecting transaction volumes.” When asked why the market boomed for many years in spite of the ‘old’ and apparently punitive stamp duty regime, Parlon responded “Shag off.”
Tags: Brian Cowen, budget, Construction Industry Federation, housing market, housing sector, property market, stamp duty, Tom Parlon
September 22, 2008 at 8:54 pm |
He’s a great fella, our Tom. I mean he’s out there knocking sense into the government and getting a great deal for the much put upon first time buyer, who has “had to sit by and watch house prices fall without being able to do anything about it”.