Tories offer tax breaks for landlords and help for homebuyers
The Conservatives will put their offer to homebuyers and property investors when their election manifesto is published today.
Landlords are being offered tax breaks by Rishi Sunak as he attempts to encourage investment in the housing sector and boost the supply of much-needed housing in the PRS.
The prime minister will also unveil plans to boost home ownership today as he puts home ownership at the heart of the Conservative general election manifesto.
The Tories are expected to pledge to abolish capital gains tax for landlords who sell their property to tenants. The scheme would last two years.
The scheme is designed to convince landlords to free up more housing stock, and also benefit long-term renters by increasing their chances of getting on to the housing ladder.
The approach would not apply to someone’s primary residence, since that already is exempted from capital gains tax.
Sunak will also pledge to reintroduce the Help to Buy scheme and a vow to abolish stamp duty for first-time buyers on properties worth less than £425,000 in the manifesto.
The policies are an attempt by Sunak to return to traditional Tory strengths of cutting taxes and building homes, after years of a rising tax burden and housing shortages.
Sunak will say: “We Conservatives have had to take difficult decisions because of Covid. But we are now cutting taxes for earners, parents and pensioners.
“We are the party of Margaret Thatcher and Nigel Lawson, a party, unlike Labour, that believes in sound money.
“In this party, we believe that it is morally right that those who can work do work, and that hard work is rewarded with people being able to keep more of their own money. We will ensure that we have lower welfare so we can lower taxes.”
However, the Tories will not promise to cut or scrap inheritance tax, according to multiple sources, to the disappointment of some Conservatives who have long called for the move.
In an interview with the BBC yesterday, Sunak admitted that owning a home “has got harder” under the Conservatives.
The manifesto will also include a promise to change planning rules to boost inner city home building so places such as London are allowed to become as densely populated as European cities like Paris and Barcelona.
Writing for The Telegraph on his housing proposals, Sunak said: “For too many of our young people, no matter how hard they work, home ownership can seem out of reach. I remember getting the keys to my first flat – it’s a special memory to me.
“And, like millions before and millions after me, it is a moment which I will always treasure. I want as many people as possible to have this opportunity, to feel that sense of ownership.
“Owning a home makes people more financially secure, gives them a stake in society and, as Thatcher said, is one of the main bulwarks of individual freedom.”
