The European Union has given the go-ahead to the government's stamp duty relief scheme.

Forum Response: British Property Federation

Ian Fletcher, director of commercial and residential at the British Property Federation, told ePolitix.com: "This is excellent news. It is rare to get state aid approval so quickly and is testament to all the hard work that the government has invested in getting the scheme passed.

"The relief being proposed will not only apply to commercial transactions, but also through our lobbying, residential property transactions of six or more properties. This will allow investors in the residential sector to buy and sell properties in bulk without incurring higher rates of duty, which we believe will assist in promoting the regeneration of such areas."

Forum Response: Institute of Directors

A spokesman for the IoD told ePolitix.com: "We welcomed the government's proposal to remove stamp duty on commercial property transactions in 2000 disadvantaged areas. However, on its own, removal of stamp duty will not be sufficient to regenerate many of these areas.

"Fundamentally, the state of the local transport infrastructure, the availability of skilled labour, and the state of the economy are all much more powerful factors."