Tory pledge to scrap stamp duty on main homes in England and Wales

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch pledged at her party conference in Manchester on Wednesday to abolish stamp duty on primary residences in England and Wales if the Conservatives win the next election, saying the move would free up the housing market and remove a barrier to homeownership. The party said the measure would be funded from a planned 47 billion pound package of spending cuts, with half used to reduce the public deficit.

Badenoch described stamp duty as "a bad tax" and said scrapping it would help people move for work, upsize or downsize and improve social mobility. The proposal would exempt purchases of main homes from stamp duty land tax, while buyers of second homes, properties purchased through companies and non-UK residents would still pay existing levies. The policy would not automatically apply in Scotland or Wales, where devolved taxes are set separately; Scottish Conservatives called on the Scottish government to abolish the equivalent Land and Buildings Transaction Tax.

The cost of abolishing stamp duty is disputed. The Conservatives have estimated the measure would cost about 9 billion pounds a year at the time of the next election, accounting for an...