The Conservatives will abolish stamp duty if they win the next election, Kemi Badenoch has announced.
Speaking to the Conservative Party conference in Manchester, the Tory leader described stamp duty – the tax paid when a new home is purchased – as a “bad tax” and an “unconservative tax”.
She said she had looked at lowering the thresholds at which stamp duty is paid but decided such a move would not be “enough”.
Unveiling the surprise announcement, she told the conference: “The last Conservative government cut stamp duty for thousands of home buyers.
“But now we must go further. We must free up our housing market – because a society where no one can afford to buy or move is a society where social mobility is dead.
“The next Conservative government will abolish stamp duty on your home.”
Ms Badenoch said the move – which was warmly welcomed by the conference audience – would be paid for by delivering £47bn in spending cuts.
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It includes £7bn in the overseas aid budget, £8bn from the civil service and £23bn from welfare.
Last year stamp duty raised more than £18bn for the Treasury. The Conservatives claim scrapping the tax will cost £9bn “due to the dramatic tax increase” they believe the chancellor is planning in the November budget.
The announcement was one of several policy offerings announced by the Tories as Ms Badenoch attempts to steal the agenda away from Nigel Farage and Reform UK, who are significantly ahead in the polls.
Ms Badenoch, who defeated Robert Jenrick in the Tory leadership contest almost a year ago, has struggled with briefings about her leadership, given the party’s poor standing in the polls, at just 17% of the vote.
On Monday a YouGov poll of Tory members for Sky News showed half did not want MS Badenoch to lead the party into the next election, and showed a preference Mr Jenrick, her former leadership rival, to take over.
