Kemi challenges Chancellor to observe Tories lead and axe Stamp Duty on the Budget after new polling reveals widespread assist forscrapping the tax
Kemi Badenoch has called on Rachel Reeves to follow the Conservatives‘ lead by scrapping stamp duty at the Budget.
The Tories are proposing an end to the charges for primary residences – amounting to a £4.5billion tax cut paid for by trimming the welfare bill.
More than two-thirds of homeowners and prospective buyers say stamp duty is an unfair tax, research by the party has found.
And nearly half of Britons say it is a barrier to buying or selling a home, with 2.8 million willing to consider downsizing by 2030 if the levy was axed or cut.
Close to one in five identify stamp duty as the biggest financial hurdle to home ownership. The research also found 77 per cent of buyers would use savings from axing stamp duty to fund renovations.
It is estimated the tax’s removal would be worth up to £1.2 billion to local economies as the housing market is re-energised.
Mrs Badenoch said stamp duty ‘punishes people for doing the right thing – for working hard, for saving hard and for wanting a place to call home’.
She told the Daily Mail: ‘Stamp duty traps people and is stifling the housing market. It keeps older owners in homes that are too big and too costly. It stops younger families from finding the space they need. And for first-home buyers, it’s another barrier on top of sky-high deposits and fees.
Kemi Badenoch vowed to abolish stamp duty as she took the fight to Labour and Reform on the economy at Conservative Party Conference last month
Mrs Badenoch, flanked by her husband Hamish, said scrapping Stamp Duty would mean first-time buyers, growing families and pensioners looking to downsize would no longer be ‘punished’ by the tax
‘Scrapping stamp duty would free up the housing market overnight, reward hard work and provide a major boost to local tradesmen.
‘Rachel Reeves should listen to the public, steal our plan for savings and scrap stamp duty in her Budget.’
Shadow housing secretary Sir James Cleverly said: ‘Stamp Duty is a bad tax. It’s an anti-aspiration tax. It’s an unfair tax. That’s why we will abolish it.
‘When people want to buy homes and put down roots in their communities, they should be supported, not have obstacles thrown in their way.’
Shadow chancellor Sir Mel Stride added: ‘Stamp duty is one of the most damaging taxes in Britain. It punishes aspiration, blocks mobility, and strangles growth.
‘Abolishing it would unleash opportunity, unlock homes, and strengthen our economy from the ground up.’
A Government spokesman said: ‘For too long, buying a home has been a nightmare. We are ending this chaos with the biggest shake-up of home buying in Britain’s history – cutting weeks from the process and saving first-time buyers £710 on average.
‘This is on top of our new investment of £39billion over the next decade to deliver the biggest boost in affordable and social housing in a generation.
‘Last year stamp duty raised around £12billion which goes towards protecting our public services, investing in our economy and delivering our plan for national renewal.’
