Plan may aid deprived areas

COMPANIES will save thousands of pounds if they choose to relocate to run-down areas under proposals to raise the threshold or abolish stamp duty on business premises.

From Friday, firms and homebuyers will no longer have to pay stamp duty when buying property up to £150,000 in 2,000 of the country's most disadvantaged areas.

The plans affect nearly one-fifth of the wards in Britain, including parts of Sheffield, Nottingham, London and Newcastle. It would enable a buyer to save £1,500 on a £150,000 house and could revive property markets in depressed areas.

More significantly, the Government will 'raise the limit significantly or abolish' stamp duty on all business properties in deprived areas in 2002. Duty is currently charged at 4% on premises worth more than £500,000. If scrapped, a company paying £3m for a warehouse would save £120,000.

'The changes could boost the housing market and business,' said Philip Ridgway of Deloitte & Touche. 'It might encourage firms to relocate outside London and help revitalise inner cities.'