Scrapping stamp duty isn't enough to rescue the property market, warns expert

Fair enough, because it punishes people for doing exactly what Conservatives usually applaud – working hard, moving up, putting down roots, and you know, generally getting more 'Conservative'.

The current system punishes success and ambition and stifles mobility. Young professionals who dare buy beyond the £300,000 threshold get fined for it.

Those in the south, where prices are higher, are 90 per cent more likely to buy above the zero-limit threshold. That seems pretty unfair to Southerners.

Families outgrowing their homes are taxed for wanting a garden. Pensioners hoping to downsize or move closer to the grandchildren face what amounts to a 'you're getting old' tax.

It's bad economics, but it brings in billions.

However, the good economics of scrapping it are obvious.

Every property sale pushes the first domino of activity: estate agents, conveyancers, surveyors, removal vans, furniture shops, decorators, plumbers, builders.

Anyone who's moved knows all too well just how expensive it is. Scrap the tax and you unleash spending power, the very fuel of growth. Classic Conservatism.

Let people keep their money, and they'll create prosperity faster than redistribution (aka taxes) ever will.

But we all know what the issue is: stamp duty raises billions, and any grown-up Conservative government has to explain what fills the gap.

The choices are simple. Raise other taxes (politically suicidal), cut spending (philosophically sound but publicly unpopular), or bank on higher growth to bridge the gap (perhaps shaking Mr Corbyn's legendary money tree).

The first option – taxing something else – is as un-Conservative as it is unpopular.

The second – spending cuts – is nearer the mark if shadow ministers can name actual sacrifices, not mumble about 'efficiencies'.

The third – trusting in growth – makes a great conference line, but needs hard evidence.

So yes, Conservatives should cheer Badenoch's instinct but insist on marking her homework.

Tax cuts without costings are how chancellors end up with that haunted look of an England football manager three years in and "mini-Budget" flashbacks.

The public – especially Conservative voters – understands that the books have to balance. But the policy grabbed attention.

First-time buyers, growing families, and downsizing homeowners are exactly the coalition Conservatism needs to rebuild. The principle that aspiration shouldn't be taxed.

The challenge now is to keep the message warm for the next three years. What's more, simply abolishing stamp duty can't stand alone.

Without reforms to housing supply, planning, and infrastructure, it merely inflates prices.

A credible Conservative strategy means aligning tax policy with the wider economic plan: more homes, more productivity, more wealth creation. Get it wrong, and it's just another unfunded promise to add to a very long list.

Jonathan Rolande is the founder of House Buy Fast. For more information, visit www.jonathanrolande.co.uk.