Finance Bill

As I said at the outset, the amendment is intended to be probing, so that we can understand why that aspect of avoidance, which appears to be a growing issue, was not tackled in the Bill. As I pointed out earlier, Savills estate agent said that of 300 homes in London that sold for more than £5 million in 2006, only 118 were registered with the Land Registry, which suggests that the remainder were sold through offshore companies and thus not registered. The debate has given us the opportunity to raise legitimate concerns about the use of special payment vehicles to minimise stamp duty land tax. As the hon. Member for Chipping Barnet (Mrs. Villiers) and the Chief Secretary know, there are certain difficulties in trying to formulate an amendment that does not have revenue-raising implications, so our proposal was the easiest way of raising the issue. I shall certainly try to find out if there is a more detailed way to tackle it, because at present SPVs not only mean that there is not a level playing field for property buyers in London; they could also be further inflating the property market at the top end. They could have a wider destabilising influence on the housing market, so I shall find a way of raising the issue again if the Chief Secretary does not make proposals himself, as I hope he will in the next Finance Bill. The concerns raised by professional bodies about the provisions are that they are a mini general anti-avoidance rule. The subsections singled out by the amendment are a way of trying to limit that. One proposed solution was to implement a clearance procedure, so perhaps the Chief Secretary will comment on that. I have been reassured that the right hon. Gentleman is taking the issue seriously, so I beg to ask leave to withdraw the amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.