Following the Conservative Leader, Kemi Badenoch’s announcement that a future Conservative Government would abolish stamp duty for homebuyers in England, the Welsh Conservatives confirmed that we would abolish Land Transaction Tax (LTT) for primary residences, the equivalent tax in Wales.
Wales’ Stamp Duty raises around £147 million per year, and the Welsh Conservatives previously called on the Welsh Government to use unallocated funding in the Welsh Government’s Budget to cover the cost of abolishing the tax for Welsh primary residences.
The Welsh Labour Government, with the support of Plaid Cymru, has made home ownership more and more difficult and unaffordable for young people, and downsizing a great challenge for older people.
Wales’ housing market is broken, and scrapping Stamp Duty is a key part of the Welsh Conservatives’ plan to fix Wales’ housing market.
In the Senedd next week, the Welsh Conservatives have brought forward a debate calling on the Welsh Labour Government to support our calls to scrap Stamp Duty for primary residences.
Commenting ahead of the debate, Welsh Conservative Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Local Government and Housing, Joel James MS, said:
“The Welsh Labour Government, with the support of Plaid Cymru, has made home ownership more and more difficult and unaffordable for young people, and downsizing a great challenge for older people.
“The aspiration-sapping Welsh Stamp Duty must be scrapped to get our housing market and economy moving, and to give people the dignity of owning their own home.”
Also commenting, Welsh Conservative Shadow Finance Secretary, Sam Rowlands MS, said:
“Land Transaction Tax is yet another tax from Labour and Plaid that is putting home ownership out of out of reach for far too many young people and Land Transaction Tax stands in the way of mobility in our housing market.
“That’s why a Welsh Conservative Government will scrap this tax and put more money in people’s pockets.”
The motion which will be debated on Wednesday reads:
To propose that the Senedd:
- Calls on the Welsh Government to support Welsh Conservative calls to scrap Land Transaction Tax for primary residences in Wales.
The debate in the Welsh Parliament is due to start around 5.00pm on Wednesday 14th January and can be watched online here.
