Conservatives: Scrap stamp duty and save average buyer £4,500

The Conservatives are today [Wednesday 25^th March] renewing their call for stamp duty to be scrapped for primary residences as new data reveals it would save the average buyer in England £4,500.

Data from the Office for National Statistics shows the average buyer in London would save even more: £17,700. Buyers in the South East would save nearly £9,000.

The data also shows house price growth of 1.1 per cent, well below inflation. This reflects a static housing market in which housing has become affordable for many, including large numbers of young people.

And among those who own homes, many do not wish to move because of the stamp duty costs they would incur.

This is why, at their Conference in October last year, the Conservatives announced their plan to scrap stamp duty for primary residences.

This ambitious plan will give first-time buyers a leg up onto the housing ladder by reducing their costs. But it will also get the market moving by releasing hundreds of thousands of homes onto the market.

Research suggests up to 2 million people would consider downsizing in the next five years if stamp duty were abolished. Even if only half of them did, that would mean a million additional homes becoming available to buy.

Abolishing stamp duty would also give a huge boost to local economies struggling under the weight of Labour's tax raids. Every house sale brings with it extra income for local businesses – builders, decorators, removal firms and more. Conservative research suggests abolition could give a £1.2 billion boost to these companies.

With Labour failing abysmally to build new homes and their 1.5 million homes target disappearing into the far distance, radical steps are needed to get the market moving again. Only the Conservatives have the plan to deliver them.

Sir James Cleverly MP, Shadow Housing Secretary, said:

“Stamp duty is a bad tax. It is an unfair tax. It is a tax on aspiration, on working hard and on investing in your family's future.

“Everyone benefits from a healthy housing market. But by discouraging people from selling, and making buying a home less achievable, stamp duty acts as one of the biggest obstacles to achieving it. That's a key reason why we will abolish stamp duty on the family home, freeing up homes and giving people a leg up onto the housing ladder.

“Labour are failing dismally to deliver the housing transformation they promised. Reform have no plan at all. The Conservatives are the only party that will get the housing market moving and help people achieve the dream of home ownership.”

ENDS

Notes to Editors

The Conservatives will abolish Stamp Duty on primary residences:

• The Conservatives will abolish stamp duty entirely on the family home. Stamp duty land tax (SDLT), which is paid when you buy a property or land in England and Northern Ireland, will be abolished for primary residences. This policy will apply irrespective of purchase price for primary residences. It will not apply to additional properties, properties purchased by companies, or by non-UK residents.  

• This policy would cost £9 billion, funded through our plan to deliver £47 billion of savings. According to the IFS, abolishing Stamp Duty on people's primary residence would cost around £4.5 billion at present.  But due to the dramatic tax increase Rachel Reeves is planning, the Conservatives have cautiously costed the abolition of the tax at £9 billion in 2029-30 (IFS, Article, 22 January 2024, link).

• 48 per cent of people said that stamp duty was a barrier when it came to buying or selling a home in a poll. In a Survation poll that asked about the associated costs to buying a home, 48 per cent (NET: Barrier: a major barrier and a moderate barrier) said that stamp duty was a barrier to them personally when it comes to buying or selling a home (Survation on behalf of 38 Degrees, Survation - Conservatives – Stamp Duty, 31 October 2025, available upon request).

Figure A

The Conservatives' plan to abolish Stamp Duty will save families thousands:

• How stamp duty currently works. You incur Stamp Duty Land Tax on increasing portions of property price when you buy a residential property in England and Northern Ireland. The following rates apply to ‘primary residence' or family home, if you own another property, you pay five per cent on top. Therefore, the average House Price of £290,000 incurs a stamp duty liability of £4,500 (1.6 per cent effective rate). First-time buyers receive relief of zero per cent on values up to £300,000 (MHCLG, House Price Index, 25 March 2026, link; MHCLG, Stamp Duty Land Tax, accessed 12 March 2026, link).

Average House Price with average saving for buyers in England:

The above calculations use Totals and breakdowns of Stamp Taxes collected by HMRC, and a stamp duty calculation based on current rates (rounded) (ONS, UK House Price Index: monthly price statistics, 25 March 2026, link).