Tories pledge to boost home ownership in election manifesto

The prime minister also said that, if re-elected, the Tories would scrap capital gains tax for landlords who sell their property to existing tenants.

Landlords currently have to pay the tax on profits they make from a sale, and Mr Sunak said the proposed tax relief would “incentivise landlords to give tenants a chance to own the home they live in”.

“It is good for landlords and transformational for tenant,” he wrote.

Details for the scheme have not been confirmed, although the Telegraph reported the exemption would last two years and is expected to cost the Treasury £20m a year in lost revenue.

The Conservatives have a target to build 300,000 new homes in England per year by the “mid-2020s”, which it is yet to meet.

Labour has pledged a similar target of building 1.5m homes over a five-year period in England if it is elected. It has promised radical plans to streamline the planning system, although details are yet to be announced.

The Liberal Democrats, who launched their manifesto on Monday, are pledging to build 380,000 new homes a year across the UK, including a specific annual target of 150,000 social homes.