The Tories today vowed to give young people £5,000 towards the cost of their first home – but only if they get a job.
Shadow chancellor Sir Mel Stride unveiled the plan to ‘reward work’ in his speech to the Conservative conference in Manchester this morning.
Under the proposals, a ‘first-job bonus’ would divert young workers’ National Insurance payments into a long-term savings account.
The Tories said the arrangement could be worth £10,000 for a working couple, with 600,000 people a year potentially benefiting.
The money could be used at any time to purchase a property, or withdrawn after a minimum of five years.
The £2.8billion cost would be funded by a £47billion savings package also announced by Sir Mel on Monday.
His strategies for reducing expenses include prohibiting hundreds of thousands of foreigners from accessing welfare benefits, alongside removing sickness benefits for certain mental health conditions.
Sir Mel also announced that £4 billion of the funds saved would be directed towards revitalizing town centres nationwide by eliminating business rates for high street shops and pubs.
He criticized the adverse impact on Britain’s high streets and town centres, attributing it to Labour’s influence, in a renewed critique of Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ tax increases on companies.
According to the Tories, approximately 250,000 businesses are expected to gain from a lasting 100 per cent relief from business rates for the retail, hospitality, and leisure sectors.
Shadow chancellor Sir Mel Stride unveiled his plan to ‘reward work’ in a speech to the Conservative conference in Manchester this morning
The £2.8billion cost of a ‘first-job bonus’ for young workers would be funded by a £47billion savings package announced by Sir Mel on Monday
Sir Mel also said £4 billion of the saved cash would be used to boost town centres across the country by abolishing business rates for high street shops and pubs
The Conservatives said abolishing business rates would bring businesses back to the high street, reinvigorate town centres and drive economic growth.
The proposed tax relief would enable businesses to transfer cost savings to consumers, potentially leading to more affordable gym memberships, meals, and drinks, the party asserted.
An estimated 89,000 jobs have been lost in the hospitality sector since last year’s Budget, when Ms Reeves announced a hike in employer National Insurance contributions.
In his conference speech, Sir Mel warned about alarming numbers of young people going straight from education to long-term sick benefits.
He said: ‘When we deliver the urgent change that is needed to stop young people going straight from school to a life on benefits, we will use those reforms to fund tax cuts which are laser-focused on aspiring young people.
‘Helping people to buy a home, build a family, save for the future. That is the Conservative dream.
‘A dream that built my life. It is why I stand before you today, and I’ll fight every single day to make sure that that dream is burning bright for younger people and for the generations to come.
‘Opportunity, aspiration, optimism. We are the party of hope. We are the party of the future.’
A Labour spokesman said: ‘Mel Stride’s supposed-savings plan has already fallen apart hours after being announced.
‘The Conservatives claimed they would state how they’d pay for their policies, yet made a multi-billion-pound pledge to abolish business rates without saying how they’d fund it.
‘It’s the same old Tories, with the same old policies. They didn’t work then and you can’t trust them now.
‘Only Labour can renew Britain and fix the mess left behind by the Conservatives.
‘We’re driving forward growth, securing our borders, and putting money back in people’s pockets.’
