Leasehold Reform and Party Conferences: Conservative Party Conference – no great debate on LAFRA, but taxation policy to boost the housing market takes centre stage
The Party Conference season concluded last week with the Conservatives’ Conference in Manchester.
With much of the news from the Conference focused during the first three days on the lack of people attending, with major conference speeches such as Shadow Chancellor Mel Stride’s being attended by a handful of activists, however, the final day livened up with a major policy announcement on Stamp Duty.
During her keynote speech, Tory Leader Kemi Badenoch confirmed that a future Conservative Government would abolish Stamp Duty for buyers on their primary residence in England and Northern Ireland. Stamp Duty would still apply for purchases by non-UK residents and those bought by companies.
Stamp Duty has regularly been criticised by economists as it is seen as a way of slowing down the housing market, blocking entry for first-time buyers and discouraging people with smaller families from moving out of larger homes. Currently Stamp Duty is paid on purchases over £125,000, with the rate over £125,000 starting at 2% and rising in steps to 12% on purchases over £1.5million. The Duty currently brings around £9 billion a year into the Exchequer.
The unpopularity of Stamp Duty within the housing sector has also been recognised by the Labour Government, with Chancellor Rachel Reeves considering replace the tax with an alternative Property Tax, although it seems unlikely that this will feature in next month’s budget.
In another policy announcement aimed at kick starting the housing market, the Conservatives announced a new scheme to help young people purchase their first home. Under the policy, branded the ‘First Job Bonus,’ the first £5,000 of National Insurance they would have paid in their first job will be re-directed into a nominated savings account, to then be used as a house deposit or for other purposes.
The reasons for the political focus on boosting the housing market is clear, with the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) UK Residential Market Survey for September showing buyer demand and agreed sales staying in negative territory for the third month in a row. Some of this may be due to people delaying investment decisions until the November budget.
On Leasehold Reform there was very little debate at the conference, with the Conservatives sticking to their position in their manifesto from last year. For flat owners, or potential buyers, Shadow Housing Secretary Sir James Cleverly did commit a future Conservative London Mayor to re-writing the London Plan, to pave the way for tens of thousands of new homes.
This appears to indicate that the Conservatives are waiting for the government to get through the current legal challenges in relation to LAFRA. What is clear though is that housing remains a political ‘hot topic’ and is likely to stay that way through to the next election.
In the meantime, with the outcome of the Human Rights Act challenges expected very soon, and also the promise of a Leasehold and Commonhold Reform Bill, it is very much a case of ‘watch this space’ for news relating to leasehold reform.
If you have a query concerning leasehold property, then please contact the experts at Bishop & Sewell’s Landlord & Tenant team by emailing leasehold@bishopandsewell.co.uk or call on 020 7631 4141.
The above is accurate as at 13 October 2025. The information above may be subject to change. The content of this note should not be considered legal advice and each matter should be considered on a case-by-case basis
