DEPRIVED parts of Swindon are set to benefit from Government plans to scrap stamp duty in poorer areas.

Under the new rules, extra payments on properties worth up to £150,000 will be scrapped in specific areas around the country, including the Parks area of Swindon and the Whitworth Road area.

Normally stamp duty is levied at one per cent for homes between £60,000 to £250,000; three per cent for those up to £500,000 and four per cent for those over £500,000.

The move, which comes into effect from tomorrow, is aimed at encouraging investment and enterprise in some of the country's poorest areas and was highlighted in Chancellor Gordon Brown's pre-budget speech this week.

Swindon councillor Steve Allsopp (Lab), who represents the Parks area, welcomed the latest move.

He said: "I think it is a step in the right direction. I suppose on a house costing £60,000 it would be enough to buy a three-piece suite.

"OK, it is not a lot in the grand scheme of things but it is a good thing. Small things when added together can combine to make somewhere like the Parks area a more attractive place for people to settle and live in."

More than 1,200 of the most disadvantaged areas in the country are included on the list.

Welcoming the announcement, regeneration minister Lord Falconer said: "This is great news for businesses and homeowners in some of our poorest areas.

"It will encourage both to locate and thrive in wards that badly need investment.

"This is the final piece in a comprehensive jigsaw of fiscal measures set out in the Urban White Paper, aimed at breathing new life into deprived areas across the country.

"These measures, worth £1billion over five years, provide a strong signal that this government is committed to improving the social, economic and physical conditions of our most disadvantaged communities."

The other measures which were announced in the budget include:

A reduction in VAT to five per cent on the costs of conversion to residential property and renovating properties empty for three years or more;

Relief from VAT on the sale of renovated houses that have been empty for ten years or more;

150 per cent tax credit for the costs of cleaning up contaminated sites;

Tax relief for the costs of converting redundant space over shops into flats.