I often hear from young people about the difficulty they have in getting onto the property ladder. If elected, Housing is an issue I would like to particularly focus on. As well as building the homes we need, we will also take immediate steps to support more people.
The Conservatives will ensure the majority of first-time buyers pay no Stamp Duty at all, lowering the upfront costs of buying a first home. We will make permanent the increase to the threshold at which first-time buyers pay Stamp Duty to £425,000 from £300,000, which we introduced in 2022.
We will also launch a new and improved Help to Buy scheme to provide first-time buyers with an equity loan of up to 20% towards the cost of a new build home. First-time buyers will be able to get onto the housing ladder with a 5% deposit on interest terms they can afford. The scheme will be part funded by contributions from house builders. We will also continue our Mortgage Guarantee Scheme, which has already helped over 40,000 households buy a home, while supporting more families to buy through shared ownership.
These steps will be invaluable for helping thousands of young people in their aspiration of buying a home for the first time.
