London-based property builder Berkeley said that the tax increase that will be imposed on high-end properties will likely deter people from making expensive home purchases. This property tax change was by the way imposed by George Osborne, the British finance minister.

Together with the company’s announcement of 80% increase in profits for the first half of the year that helped it send its shares to their highest value in the past three quarters, Berkeley also cautioned over the changes in the taxes for expensive homes.

The strength of the London housing market has helped the housebuilder gain huge profits where it has 4/5 of its business but stated that the stamp duty changes can mean lesser sales for its top-end homes.

With the duty changes, the government said that almost all home buyers will experience a tax cut but the homes that are worth more than 937,000 pounds will have to pay higher taxes.

Berkeley however is pleased with the market that made it raised its full-year guidance because of the new developments and stronger demand for homes. The company said that it’s confident that it will meet market expecatations.

The full-year underlying profit excluding interest and taxes for Berkeley is around 455 million pounds after it was able to build 3,742 homes in 2013.

In the six months through October, Berkeley said that its pretax profit increased to 305 million pounds which includes an 85 million one-off asset sale.