Tories are planning to cut stamp duty in the autumn statement: Chancellor Jeremy Hunt is weighing up increasing the threshold at which homebuyers pay from £250,000 to £300,000
The Tories are considering plans to cut stamp duty in the final autumn statement before the next general election.
According to reports in The Times, Jeremy Hunt is weighing up increasing the threshold at which homebuyers pay stamp duty from £250,000 to £300,000.
Mr Hunt has previously hinted there could be a further 'fiscal event' before voters go to the polls in an effort to underline the Conservatives' tax-cutting credentials.
The threshold increase is believed to be costed at around £3 billion per year by the end of the decade and would mean around half of people buying a house would no longer need to pay stamp duty.
Michael Gove, the levelling-up secretary, has in the past repeatedly pressed Hunt and Sunak to make a 'bold offer' on housing.
Jeremy Hunt is weighing up increasing the threshold at which homebuyers pay stamp duty from £250,000 to £300,000
The threshold increase is believed to be costed at around £3 billion per year by the end of the decade and would mean around half of people buying a house would no longer need to pay stamp duty (stock image)
Currently people begin paying stamp duty at 5 per cent of the value of a property over £250,000
He supports cuts to stamp duty to help first-time buyers as part of a package to win round voters.
In February senior Conservative MP Robert Jenrick also supported cutting stamp duty in an article in the Daily Mail.
A senior Tory told The Times home ownership is key to driving economic growth and is 'at the heart of Conservative values'.
He told the paper a cut to the duty would send a signal to voters that the government 'gets it' and wants to help.
Currently people begin paying stamp duty at 5 per cent of the value of a property over £250,000, with the rate increasing to 10 per cent beyond £925,000 and as much as 12 per cent for houses valued at more than £1.5 million.
The threshold increase would benefit more people in the south of England as that is where property prices are more expensive.
However, with nearly six months until the likely date of any autumn statement, discussion of possible measures will be in their early stages and the Chancellor is likely to face pressure from backbench Conservatives for a range of other tax cuts.
Michael Gove, the levelling-up secretary, has in the past repeatedly pressed Hunt and Sunak to make a 'bold offer' on housing
In February senior Conservative MP Robert Jenrick also supported cutting stamp duty in an article in the Daily Mail
A senior Tory told The Times home ownership is key to driving economic growth and is 'at the heart of Conservative values' (stock photo)
Both last year's autumn statement and last month's Budget contained eye-catching cuts to national insurance, but freezes to tax thresholds and other changes have seen the overall tax burden increase.
Mr Hunt and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak have said their 'long-term ambition' is to scrap national insurance entirely, but have not set a date for this.
Labour has criticised the commitment as an unfunded tax cut of £46 billion, drawing comparisons with the tax cuts proposed by Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng in their mini-budget.
The Conservatives hope further tax cuts will boost their chances at the next general election, with Mr Hunt saying the impact of lower taxes combined with falling inflation and potentially decreased interest rates could start to have an effect on voters by the autumn.
But the last two national insurance cuts, worth a total of around £900 to someone on the average wage, have had little impact on the polls, with Ipsos finding a record low of just 19 per cent of voters backing the Tories in a recent survey.
The stamp duty proposal comes as Rishi Sunak said in a major speech yesterday that people sick with mental health conditions are placing 'unsustainable' pressure on the welfare budget.
The Prime Minister argued that it is time to be 'more honest about the risk of over-medicalising the everyday challenges and worries of life' and that politicians must be bold enough to tackle the issue.
He will set out a vision of a 'new welfare settlement for Britain', in which people will be expected to work wherever possible, in return for assistance in tackling health conditions holding them back.
