Overview

• Kemi Badenoch unveiled the pledge in Manchester, branding stamp duty a "bad tax" and limiting abolition to primary residences, with second homes, company purchases and non‑resident buyers still charged.
• The party says it would fund the change from £47bn of savings by 2029, applying a new "golden rule" to split spending cuts between deficit reduction and tax or growth measures.
• The Institute for Fiscal Studies estimates the direct cost at about £4.5bn a year, compared with the Conservatives’ £9bn cautious figure based on projected higher receipts.
• Property groups such as Zoopla, Propertymark and Knight Frank welcomed the potential boost to transactions, while economists including Jonathan Portes and the Resolution Foundation questioned the credibility and distributional fairness of the funding plan.
• The announcement is intended to reset Tory positioning against Reform UK and Labour, and it tests Reeves as Treasury officials explore property‑tax options and reports suggest a replacement is unlikely to be introduced in November.