A WISTFUL Laura Herbert looks again at the property market in York.

Could Chancellor Gordon Brown have given the 22-year-old fresh hope of ever living in her own home?

Mr Brown doubled the threshold of stamp duty from £60,000 to £120,000.

Given that Laura was unlikely to find anything more than a shed for under £60,000 in soaraway York, it was a nonsense that penalised first-time buyers like her.

But what are the odds that she would find anything decent under the new £120,000 benchmark?

"Not very good," said Laura, who is bracing herself to stay a little longer at her parents' home in Tadcaster Road, York.

And Laura should know. She works in the lettings department of York's Hudson Moody estate agents.

She said: "If there is a consolation it may be that homes previously priced at say £125,000 will come down to dip under the no-duty barrier."