𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Scrapping stamp duty would boost housebuilding and deliver nearly 200,000 new homes over the next five years new analysis has claimed.

Ahead of a speech by Sir Mel Stride MP, the Conservative Shadow Chancellor, the new data suggests that axing the unpopular tax could spur construction and help tackle the housing crisis.

It shows that new housing starts could increase by 25 per cent, based on the current progress of the government against its 2024 pledge to build 1.5 million new homes in this parliament.

Supporters of doing away with the tax say that Labour is so far failing to deliver their commitment, with starts being just half what they would need to be to meet the target.

The Conservative Party plans to scrap stamp duty should they be returned to government in a move welcomed by tax campaigners.

John O’Connell, chief executive at the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said the charge “is one of the most damaging taxes in Britain”.

He added that it “punishes aspiration, gums up the housing market and traps people in homes that no longer suit their needs”.

“Scrapping it would make it easier for families to move, help older homeowners downsize and boost economic activity across the country,” he said.

Sir Mel is expected to describe the tax as a “tax on aspiration” and to accuse the Labour Government of “failing young people across the board”.

“The housing market is not working as it should,” the top Tory will say, adding “that is shutting people out of the dream of home ownership”.

The shadow chancellor will say that “abolishing stamp duty would help to get Britain moving again, and it would give developers the boost they need to deliver more of the homes we need as well”.

He is expected to say that fiscal drag will mean that more people will be dragged into stamp duty over the coming years as well, should the tax not be removed.

Sir Mel will say: “Fiscal drag is essentially a massive additional tax rise by the back door. The Treasury will quietly rake in more and more, while the damaging effects on the housing market grow worse and worse.”

The Treasury was approached for comment.