Every time it's throw tax payers hard earned to the feckless. Every time all that is achieved is another rocket motor strapped to inflation and a foot on Stirlings neck.

This government's approach will be used as the basis of future economics lectures, and NOT in a good way.

Pat, Coromandel, NZ

Melissa, London, what makes you think your flat was worth 200K in the first place, maybe 175K is a more realistic price?

Yorkie, London,

My flat was worth £200k yesterday. It's worth £175k today and I was relying on the equity to make up the difference in the deposit value I require for my next place. This stamp duty holiday means I will sit tight and not sell.

Melissa, London, UK

If the government really is committed to a 'rescue' package for our over-heated housing market, one which doesn't come close to affecting real 'average' price in the country's commercial hub probably isn't the way to go about it. Yet another nail.

James Gotch, West London,

Houses at 125-175k will simply add 1% to the asking price. Developers will charge the government too much when they buy. To say these measures are to help buyers is a total farce. Prices should be allowed to fall rather than throwing all our money away in a foolish asset bubble.

Phil, Welwyn, UK

Bail the debt ridden population out with more yet more debt. Great plan Mr Brown!! What happened to “prudence” or savings? No wonder this country has no pensions or savings for the future. Its time the Government started rewarding savers instead of the feckless borrowers of Browns Britain.

Steve, Leeds,

In Oxford (a grim Midlands industrial town with a dreadful housing stock, worse than Slough) there are 137 properties listed on the rightmove website at £175,000 or below out of a total of 1260. This is targeted at Labour heartlands where property is cheaper.

Adam, Oxford, UK

What else could we expect from Brown: his cupboard is bare

james, Sevenoaks,

Property is overpriced and forcast to fall, that is why lenders are reluctant to offer mortgages.
House prices need to come down to an affordable level!
We need responsable lending, people need to save up deposits and only borrow what they can afford.
We should all learn something from this mess!

Gary, Middlesbrough,

Hey, government gives the slaves a break!!

James, venice, fl, USA

Completely useless for most home purchasers in the South of England. And elsewhere little value. As if a saving of £1500 will encourage buyers to rush back into the market. The purchasers this will help is only those buying between £126,000 and £175,000!!!!???
Half hearted and misdirected (again).

David Connor, bognor regis, west sussex

Government: keep out of market forces. Your interfering only causes further problems and costs us money to fund your interventionist and artificial clamberings.

FTBs: keep out of the housing market for at least 18 months. FTBs are the fuel, so give this fire no oxygen and watch it collapse further.

Laura Roberts, London, UK

'good news for property buyers in the North of England, where prices average £129,700, and for buyers in Yorkshire and Humberside'

Last time I looked Yorkshire was in the north, and Humberside too - or has the government, or even opposition, decided to move them south?

Michael, Pilsen,

Or folk with a £180-£190k house for sale have just had to drop £5-15k overnight.

Roger Humber: The core problem is people on £25k a year cannot get 8x salary 100% mortgages - they need to now earn £50k and have £40k deposit - or house prices need to drop... a lot.

Ed, Harrogate, England

The government should not be spending tax payers money trying to prop up the property market. Property prices are too high, and the quicker the market corrects them, the better.

If people can't afford to pay their mortgages, and get repossessed, they won't be homeless, they can always rent.

M Kaye, Ipswich,

Utterly pointless tokenism from a dithering government that is spending tax payers money like confetti to shore up northern votes.

If this is the sum total of Browns fightback then Labour should just call an election now. Pushing Blears in front of the cameras is a sure way to lose votes.

simon, loughborough, england

Aren't the only people who are really going to benefit from this the ones who buy cheap flats for buy-to lets? I thought they were the problem not the solution.

Useless, empty PR gesture that will only make things worse.

I'd leave the country but if I could sell my house!

Mike, Tunbridge Wells, UK

A rubbish response that will do more harm than good. Any property priced at 200K will now be driven down to 175k and that will drag down the market further. Irrelevant in London market other than a 2 bed flat will now again be vulnerable to last minute price hacking by the few savage buyers.

Nick, Parma, Italy

Absolutely pointless. The effect of this will be negligible, because of all the other factors depressing the economy. If £1,750 is all that is stopping your purchase of a house, you should well be able to negotiate that off the price. Remove the hated stamp duty once and for all.

Adrian Ryan, Donegal, Ireland

This is a great way of ensuring that no houses in the £180-190k price bracket can be sold for the next 12 months.

When will the government learn that knee-jerk interventionist policies rarely succeed?

Darren, York, England