Property Tax Election Pledges 2024

Introduction

This article compares and contrasts the key property-related tax pledges of the Conservatives, Liberal Democrats, Reform UK, Green Party, and Labour Party for the 2024 election.

The Conservatives

The Conservatives propose introducing a permanent version of First Time Buyer’s Relief for Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT).

This would mean a 0% SDLT rate for qualifying first-time buyers on properties up to £425,000, with a potential cap around £625,000 where the relief phases out.

Additionally, they plan a two-year temporary Capital Gains Tax (CGT) exemption for landlords selling properties to their existing tenants. This aims to make it easier for tenants to purchase the properties they live in and will be a nice saving for the landlord.

The Conservatives have pledged not to raise Capital Gains Tax rates.  You will recall that the top-rate of CGT for residential sales was reduced from 28% to 24% in the Spring Budget.

In addition, at that Budget, they also announced the scrapping of Multiple Dwellings Relief (“MDR”).

Reform Party

In a move that would be massive, Reform UK proposes to scrap the interest relief restrictions for landlords that were introduced at the end of the last decade, thus reversing a policy which has been taxing phantom profits ever since.

Additionally, Reform UK intends to adjust SDLT significantly.

They propose:

• a 0% rate for properties below £750,000;
• a 2% rate for the next £750,000 (up to £1.5 million), and
• a 4% rate for properties over £1.5 million.

Labour Party

Labour plans to introduce an additional 1% SDLT surcharge for non-residents buying UK property.

This surcharge will be on top of the existing 2% surcharge for foreign buyers, potentially bringing the total SDLT rate for these buyers up to 18% when combined with other applicable rates.

This measure aims to make it more challenging for non-residents to purchase UK property and thus could potentially reduce competition for domestic buyers.

Labour has not committed to keeping CGT rates unchanged.

Labour’s decision to add VAT to private school fees might feed local property bubbles around good state schools.

Liberal Democrats

The Liberal Democrats plan to reform Capital Gains Tax to close loopholes exploited by the super wealthy, although they do not provide specific details on what these reforms would entail.

As such, whether this will affect property, we do not know.

Green Party

The Green Party proposes aligning the tax rates on income and taxable gains, ensuring that income and gains are taxed at the same rates.

This is likely to mean increasing CGT rates to match higher income tax rates. As such, this might increase the tax burden on property sales by landlords.

Summary

The property-related tax pledges of the major parties reflect their broader ideological goals and priorities:

• The Conservatives focus on supporting first-time buyers and encouraging landlord-tenant property sales with SDLT reliefs and temporary CGT exemptions.
• Liberal Democrats emphasize closing loopholes in CGT, although details are sparse.
• Reform UK proposes bold reforms to SDLT and scrapping interest relief restrictions for landlords, aiming to simplify and reduce the tax burden on property transactions.
• Green Party focuses on aligning income and gains tax rates and closing wealth-related loopholes, potentially increasing the tax burden on property gains.
• Labour Party aims to curb foreign investment in UK property with an additional SDLT surcharge for non-residents.

If you want greater detail on the individual parties tax promises, please see the following:

• Conservatives
• Liberal Democrats
• Reform Party
• Green Party
• Labour