Tory leadership hopeful James Cleverly has reiterated his call for stamp duty to be axed as he suggested the levy is leaving Baby boomers ‘locked into’ large houses.
The former home secretary claimed scrapping stamp duty, which is charged on the purchase of property, would ‘pump-prime’ the British economy.
Mr Cleverly offered the example of the next-door neighbours to the home where he grew up, saying they were a couple whose children moved out decades ago.
‘For 35 years there are four unused bedrooms in that house,’ he told the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham.
‘And they are locked into it because of the cost of stamp duty.’
Tory leadership hopeful James Cleverly has reiterated his call for stamp duty to be axed as he suggested the levy is leaving Baby boomers ‘locked into’ large houses
Speaking at the Tory conference in Birmingham, the ex-home secretary claimed scrapping stamp duty would ‘pump-prime’ the British economy
Mr Cleverly’s wife, Susie, was pictured applauding as her husband appeared in front of Conservative members
Mr Cleverly and Susie were also pictured as he prepared for his main speech to Tory delegates tomorrow
He added that making it easier for older generations to downsize once their children move out would ‘free up more movement in the housing market’.
Mr Cleverly is competing against Kemi Badenoch, Robert Jenrick and Tom Tugendhat to be elected as Rishi Sunak’s successor as Tory leader.
The four contenders have each been offered appearances on the main stage at this week’s Tory conference to make their case to party members.
In a Q&A event this afternoon, Mr Cleverly said there was ‘no need to go anywhere near the green belt’ while boosting the supply of housing in Britain.
‘One of the proposals I’ve put forward is scrapping stamp duty on residential property sales,’ he told the audience.
‘The house I grew up in, our next-door neighbours their children moved out 35 years ago and they’re now an empty-nester couple living in a four, possibly even five-bedroom detached family house.
‘For 35 years there are four unused bedrooms in that house. And they are locked into it because of the cost of stamp duty.
‘If they were able to downsize, they would free up more movement in the housing market, younger people would be able to get on the housing ladder, there would be much more money pumped through the economy.
‘Because what’s the first thing you do when you move? You buy some new white goods, you get the painter-decorators in, you get the builders in – you spend money in your local economy.
‘Through our taxes, we have stifled the natural flow of money through the economy. We should remove that tax, pump-prime the economy, get that house back on the market.’
Ahead of the general election, the Tories made a manifesto promise to permanently scrap stamp duty on homes up to £425,000 for first-time buyers.
They also promised to not increase the rate or level of stamp duty, but did not offer any further relief on the tax for those who already own a property.
During this afternoon’s Q&A, Mr Cleverly pushed for the Tory leadership contest to end earlier than currently scheduled.
This would allow the newly-elected leader to respond to Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ first Budget on 30 October.
Currently the winning Tory candidate is not due to be announced until 2 November.
But Mr Cleverly said:Â ‘I have already said to the party board that I would prefer that we nibble away a couple of days.
‘This Budget will define this Labour Party. If we hit them hard, where it hurts, in their economic incompetence, that will be a good starting point for the new leader of the party.’
All four Tory candidates are set to give speeches to conference delegates during tomorrow’s final day of the Birmingham gathering.
