Stamp Duty:

Amazingly the Stamp Act came into force in 1891 and stated that documents were not to be used as evidence in court unless they were stamped.  Therefore tenancy agreements should be stamped just in case they have to be presented to a judge as evidence.  Judges have started to tighten up on the stamping of documents.  For years they have been fairly lax about it, but now the treasury has seen that there is a small fortune to be made here.  On October 1st 1999 stamp duty charges changed dramatically and now stand at:

As you can see from above we provide landlords with a tenancy agreement of 364 days so that they can avoid the paying of 1% and instead settle for £5.00 - this is especially useful where the rent is in excess of £5000 per annum.

Unfurnished Properties - attract a Duty of 1% regardless of the length of the tenancy.  However, if they are below the £5000 threshold then no duty is payable.