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."
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