First time buyers face stamp duty axe on homes worth up to £425,000, as Rishi Sunak promises to make temporary cut permanent

Stamp duty will be abolished for first-time buyers on properties worth up to £425,000. Tories will promise this in their election manifesto.

A measure that would benefit 200,000 households annually Rishi Sunak will make permanent a temporary reduction introduced by Liz Truss And Kwasi Kwartengwhich would end in March next year.

In their disastrous mini-budget, the then Prime Minister and Chancellor increased the property threshold for first-time buyers to avoid stamp duty from £300,000 to £425,000. It was a temporary measure that will expire in March 2025.

It is unclear how much extending the policy will cost, but the Telegraph, which first reported the policy, said previous Treasury estimates suggested this could amount to around £1 billion a year.

Almost all (94%) of first-time buyers in Britain paid £425,000 or less for their property, the paper said.

Stamp duty will be abolished for first-time buyers on properties worth up to £425,000, the Tories promise in their election manifesto

Rishi Sunak will make permanent a temporary cut introduced by Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng, which was due to end in March next year

While the policy promise will be welcomed by younger voters, the Telegraph reported that the Prime Minister has decided not to make a promise to cut inheritance tax – a measure popular with older people.

The Tories are expected to publish their manifesto this week, although policy is still subject to change.

The stamp duty promise does not go as far as many economists would like. T

The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has long argued that property purchase taxes are ‘inflating’ the housing market, and that abolishing them completely would encourage older people to downsize while helping first-time buyers onto the property ladder.