The call from the property website comes after Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch, in a surprise move, yesterday pledged to abolish stamp duty on primary homes if the party returns to power at the next election.

Rightmove property expert Colleen Babcock backed the Conservative’s call for the tax to be scrapped, but added that even lifting current thresholds “would be a helping hand for some”. 

Babcock points out that Rightmove data shows that only 5% of homes in England are exempt from stamp duty for people moving to their next home, and only 40% for first-time buyers (see table below).

She says: “Looking ahead to November’s Budget, we would urge the government to review how stamp duty could be changed.

“Even changing the thresholds would be a helping hand for some, but if there was the possibility to go even further, it would be a huge step forward for mobility across the property market.”

Currently, home buyers in England and Northern Ireland are required to pay stamp duty on properties valued over £125,000, ranging from 2% of the value of the home to 12%, for houses valued at more than £1.5m. For first-time buyers, the threshold is £300,000.

The levy raised £11.6bn last year, according to government data.

The HomeOwners Alliance also “strongly” supported the call to axe the tax.

HomeOwners Alliance chief executive Paula Higgins says: “We strongly support the Conservative Party Leader’s call to abolish stamp duty.”

She adds: “Our research shows over 800,000 homeowners have shelved moving plans in the past two years, and stamp duty is a major barrier.

“By scrapping it, we don’t just help first-time buyers: we unlock supply, free up stock, stimulate related trades and get the housing market moving.”

But financial services firm Hargreaves Lansdown says, “there are serious question marks” over what the move “might achieve, and whether it’s likely to happen”.

Hargreaves Lansdown head of personal finance Sarah Coles points out that stamp duty is not “necessarily the biggest barrier someone faces when they buy and sell”.

Coles says: “Take someone downsizing, for instance, from a £750,000 property to a £300,000 one. In England and Northern Ireland, they’d pay £5,000 in stamp duty.

“It’s a fraction of what they’re likely to pay in estate agency fees, and sits along a huge range of costs from conveyancing to removals. It begs the question of whether removing the cost of the tax is a gamechanger.”

Coles adds: “Meanwhile, a first-time buyer pays no stamp duty at all on a first property costing £300,000. For them, the enormous challenge is raising a deposit, and one of the most valuable tools at their disposal is the Lifetime ISA, offering a 25% government bonus on all contributions.

“It’s also vital to consider the potential impact on the Treasury, where else this money might come from and what other taxes might rise?”

Chancellor Rachel Reeves faces a £20bn to £30bn fiscal gap , and in the summer the Treasury floated a series of new homes taxes ahead of the 26 November Budget.

Details on any new home levies are lightly drawn so far, but the Treasury is understood to be considering a new property tax on the sale of homes worth more than £500,000.

Landlords may also be hit by proposals to apply National Insurance to rental income, in a move the Treasury hopes will raise £2bn.

Labour is also understood to be studying plans for a new local annual property levy to replace council tax over an unspecified phased period.

Rightmove English stamp duty data by region: