Robert Jenrick has called on the Prime Minister to cut stamp duty to help “fix the housing crisis” which will provide a “boost” to housebuilding.
Rishi Sunak told the Conservative former minister that tax decisions is for the Chancellor Jeremy Hunt, the Prime Minister then claimed that the government has increased housebuilding.
Jenrick told the House of Commons, “A first responsibility for Government is to fix the housing crisis that young people didn’t cause.”
He then said that the Tories has “dragged housebuilding” to the “highest level since 1987.”
However, Jenrick then said, “Housebuilding is weakening. We need to do more.
“Will [Prime Minister] consider using the budget to do as he and I did together during the pandemic and cut stamp duty to boost housing starts, to reignite the economy and to support thousands of businesses across our country?”
Sunak replied, “Since 2010 we have delivered two and a half million additional homes, on track to deliver a million just in this Parliament and help over 850,000 families into homeownership through schemes such as help-to-buy and right-to-buy.
“Obviously, tax decisions are a matter for the Chancellor.
“But I would point out that our existing stamp duty relief for first-time buyers ensures the vast majority of first-time buyers in our country pay absolutely no stamp duty.”
