Jeremy Hunt pledges Tories will protect the family home from damaging tax rises, as he warned: ‘Labour is coming for your home’

Jeremy Hunt last night promised the Tories would protect the family home from damaging tax rises – as he warned: ‘Work comes to your house’.

The chancellor said a new ‘family housing tax guarantee’ would prevent the next government from fiddling with council tax bands or imposing other new property taxes.

He warned sir Keir Starmer And Rachel Reeves could follow Labor’s lead in Wales and embark on a controversial reform of council tax, which critics warn could increase bills for many.

The move comes as the Conservatives put tax at the center of their election campaign after Sir Keir failed to debunk it Rishi Sunak‘s claim that Labor is plotting a £2,000 tax raid on families.

Sir Keir failed to seriously challenge this figure during Tuesday night’s TV debate between the two leaders, despite the Prime Minister raising it 12 times.

British Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt, who last night promised that the Tories would protect the family home from damaging tax rises

Rachel Reeves (pictured) could launch controversial council tax reform, which critics warn could increase bills for many, Hunt warned

During an extraordinary intervention last night, the Labor leader accused Sunak of ‘lying’ about figureswhich are largely based on the Treasury’s analysis of Labour’s published plans.

Mr Hunt claimed last night that Labor was considering further tax attacks on people’s homes – and vowed the Tories would not follow suit.

Under the new ‘guarantee’, the Conservatives will commit not to re-evaluate tax bands, as Labor is doing in Wales.

The number of bands would remain the same under a Rishi Sunak government and council tax cuts would not be reduced, the party said.

Stamp duty rates would also be frozen and the tax credit that protects homes from capital gains tax would be maintained, the Tories promised.

Mr Hunt said only the Tories would ‘protect your family home to give you peace of mind, with our guarantee that no such taxes will be increased for the entire next parliament’.

Labor failed to deliver on the promise last night, but continued to insist: ‘We will not increase taxes on working people.’

Keir Starmer (pictured in Portsmouth today) made the blunt accusation as Labor desperately tries to limit the damage from the head-to-head clash on ITV

It comes after it emerged that Labour’s shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves has previously called for a re-evaluation of council tax.

In 2018, she proposed that the system should be “overhauled and replaced” with “a property tax, levied on property owners.”

She said council tax was “long overdue at the very least for a re-evaluation and review of existing bands – a power that could be devolved to local government to meet local needs”.

The Tories said this would amount to a ‘family home tax’, which would burden 26 million homes with higher bills.

The Labour-led Welsh government is also considering major reform of council tax. Consideration is given to placing properties in bands based on current values ​​and updating band thresholds.

It is also looking at reducing the tax rates applied to low-valued properties and increasing them on high-valued properties, although the shake-up has been postponed until 2028.

A consultation paper published last year said a ‘more progressive system would shift current payment patterns away from those with the least incomes and require those with the most to make a greater contribution’.

Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt with Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves as they wait to appear on BBC1’s current affairs program on Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg

It added: ‘There are many ways we can make the system fairer without making it more progressive, but a more progressive system would have a greater impact in tackling inequality in property wealth.’

Council tax bands in Wales are based on property values ​​in 2003, while in England they are based on April 1991 values.

Since then, property values ​​have changed significantly, and economists including the Institute for Fiscal Studies have said that banding in England is highly regressive.

But it is politically difficult to change tax bands in England, as many voters in London and the South East would likely end up with higher bills.