Accountants have reacted with scepticism to the government announcement that stamp duty will be suspended on properties costing £175,000 or less over the next 12 months. The move, which the government hopes will affect half of all property transactions for the next year, has been made in an effort to kick-start the flagging UK housing market. But Marios Gregori, director of corporation tax at PKF, does not feel the measures go far enough. 'The extension of a nil-rate band for Stamp Duty Land Tax on residential property from £125,000 to £175,000 will help some across the country,' he said. 'But exempting properties up to £250,000 would have had more of an impact. 'The extension will encourage more shared equity schemes with the percentage share bought by first-time buyers having a value of around £170,000, especially as the government's new HomeBuy Direct scheme, worth £300m, aims to help up to 10,000 first-time buyers.' Baker Tilly responded by calling the announcement 'political headline-grabbing' and said the move is unlikely to generate fresh activity in the market. George Bull, Baker Tilly's head of tax, said: 'A quick look at the statistics suggests that only one in six properties sell for between £125,000 and £175,000, so only they will benefit. 'Further, most builders have large numbers of properties available and they typically sell them SDLT free, so any benefit will not be felt there. 'The one year increase in the threshold will help those who would have purchased anyway, but is unlikely to be much of an incentive to others. 'Of course, anything that can be done to breathe new life into the housing market is welcome, but with signs that the blockage in the housing market is at the more expensive end - due to price "resistance" in a falling market and restricted access to borrowing because of the credit crunch the one year increase in the threshold does nothing to tackle those problems.'