Conservatives bring forward Senedd motion to scrap Welsh stamp duty
The Welsh Conservatives have put forward a Senedd motion calling on the Welsh Government to support their calls to scrap stamp duty for primary residences.
In October, the Welsh Tories confirmed they would scrap the Welsh version of stamp duty for primary residences in Wales if the party came to power in the Senedd in May.
It came after Conservative Leader Kemi Badenoch announced that a future Conservative UK Government would abolish stamp duty for homebuyers in England.
In Wales, Land Transaction Tax is a devolved tax paid by the buyer when purchasing freehold or leasehold property or land above a certain price threshold.
It replaced the UK-wide Stamp Duty Land Tax in April 2018 and is collected by the Welsh Revenue Authority.
The Tories say Wales’ Stamp Duty raises around £147 million per year.
The party has previously called on the Welsh Government to use unallocated funding in their Budget to cover the cost of abolishing the tax.
The Welsh Conservatives have accused the Labour Government in Wales – with the support of Plaid Cymru – of making home ownership “more difficult and unaffordable” for young people, and downsizing a “great challenge” for older people.
In the Senedd on Wednesday (January 14), the party will lead a debate calling on the Welsh Government to axe the policy.
Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Local Government and Housing, Joel James, 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, Shadow Finance Secretary, Sam Rowlands, 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.”
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Quote: “Kemi Badenoch announced that a future Conservative UK Government would abolish stamp duty for homebuyers in England.” Does anyone else agree that whatever decision is made in Westminster should apply to the UK and not England only. England should have its own Senedd similar to the rest of us to make decisions. Currently England under Westminster sits on a huge pot of UK money whilst the three other nations have to rely on handouts. They dip their paws into the Treasury funds without having to go begging for it. What England wants England gets. Westminster, the UK government, should… Read more »
Marked down by some but with no replies because they know I am right. No backbone to reply.
They didn’t want regional assemblies when offered. We don’t want England’s jackboot. Wales has never mandated tories, but suffered under them endlessly. We are Welsh, we need our own government for our different needs to England.
We have mandated Labour a few times!
Gonna need to split this down… Does anyone else agree that whatever decision is made in Westminster should apply to the UK and not England only. No. Certain powers are devolved to Wales and Wales (in the main) should be deciding those policies. In this particular case regarding Stamp Duty, there is no reason at all for Stamp Duty to be in the hands of Westminster or for Westminster to be allowed to make decisions up on it. Stamp Duty is best left in the hands of local Councils because it should be up to the local council to manage… Read more »
Thanks for replying.
Land transaction tax is also considerably more expensive if you are buying a house for more than £225k than in England, and when you look at where that tax is going it’s a joke. It’s an astonishing amount to tax people just for moving home. e.g £18k for a £500k house. Labour yet again treating anyone who works hard and generates their own wealth with contempt.
Living near the border, this is one tax I would suggest is unified between England and wales. From estate agent friend, there is a disproportionate amount of people from England now buying up houses in Flintshire at the sub 225k bracket. Even new housing estates seem to target this bracket. But obviously don’t think about that when you’re living in Cardiff and making up these rules
Nobody uproots their lives to save two grand on a £225k purchase. They’ll do it because that £225k buys them so much more.
…. 18,000 / 500000 x 100 … 3.6%. I think if they can afford a 500k house, you can afford the 18k tax. But if that 18k is too much then perhaps try looking for a house around the 482000 mark instead.
I would really love to have these problems. The rest of us are struggling to purchase something around the 90k mark.
The party of unfunded tax cuts is at it again. #Trussonomics
Isn’t it strange that Sam Rowlands’ lot always bracket Labour and Plaid together for dwcisions that are Labour’s alone? Almost as though he has an obsession about it.
There is no LTT for main residential property purchases up to and including £225,000.
From £225,000 up to and including £400,000 it’s 6%, from over £400,000 up to and including £750,000 it is 7.5%, from over £750,000 up to and including £1,500,000 it is 10% and for over £1,500,000 it is 12%. There are higher rates that apply to second homes and low exemptions.
So the claim by Joel Jolly James MS that it’s unaffordable for young people, and downsizing a great challenge for older people is complete BS.
This amounts to nothing more than classic ‘rent seeking’, an attempt to make a windfall gain for existing property owners. Simple capital gains. As there is a constant constrained supply of homes you have a kind of monopoly situation where if you remove any of the costs of purchase, the actual property selling price will rist to the old figure plus the value of the removed tax/transaction cost. This what always happens if you apply a subsidy to to any service or product that is in constrained supply and the removal of a tax essentially amounts to a subsidy.