Tories pledge up to £50,000 off new build house prices

The Conservatives say they would cut up to £50,000 from the cost of a new home. Their route is scrapping net zero building rules and other regulations they call red tape. Shadow chancellor Andrew Griffith promised "saving up to £50,000 on a new home" in his party conference speech in Birmingham on 5 October, according to Construction News. Two weeks on, this is still an opposition pledge, not policy. The rules it targets remain on track to take effect in England on 24 March 2027.

So what moves new build house prices today? Not this pledge. But it tells you where the cost of a new home is being argued over, and that is where my angle sits.

What are the Conservatives promising?

The centrepiece is the Future Homes Standard (the tighter building rules for new homes in England that require low-carbon heating such as heat pumps). The party plans to ditch it, along with housebuilding rules covering low-carbon heating, according to PA Media copy carried by the Express & Star. Griffith agreed on BBC Radio 4's Today programme that the plans amounted to a "bonfire of regulations".

The package goes wider than one standard. The Conservatives would replace two developer charges with a single one. These are Section 106 agreements (deals that can require developers to fund affordable housing) and the Community Infrastructure Levy (a council charge on new development). They would also abolish Natural England and the Environment Agency, moving their functions into Defra (the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs).

Stamp duty is part of the picture too. City AM reported that, according to party analysis, the £50,000 figure is also enabled by a pledge to scrap stamp duty on a primary residence. If you want to see what that tax adds to a purchase today, our free stamp duty calculator runs the current figures.

Shadow housing secretary Katie Lam put it bluntly. "Net zero regulations alone are adding tens of thousands of pounds to the cost of a new home," she told the conference (Inside Housing).

Where does the £50,000 figure come from?

Here's the honest answer: the party has not shown a line-by-line sum in anything I read. BBC Verify's analysis quotes the Conservatives saying: "All in all, we will cut the cost of delivering and therefore buying a new home by up to £50,000." BBC Verify said it had asked the party for a full breakdown.

The closest benchmark is the Home Builders Federation (the trade body for housebuilders). BBC Verify reports its estimate that new regulations, taxes and inflation since 2020 have added £76,000 to the cost of building a new home in England and Wales. Of that, the HBF puts £10,200 on the Future Homes Standard, £985 on Section 106 and £12,700 on environmental measures such as nutrient neutrality.

Strip out a £37,000 rise in material and labour costs and the HBF's regulation and tax total comes to around £42,000. BBC Verify says the Conservatives' figure is slightly higher than that. It also notes the plan assumes savings reach buyers rather than raising housebuilders' profits.

Party researchers also pointed to a 2023 Birmingham City Council document, according to PA Media copy carried by Rayo. It found efficiency upgrades, heat pumps and full solar panel installation could add £30,789 to the cost of building a detached home. The same document estimated those measures could cut £2,715 a year from energy bills, paying for themselves within roughly 11 years.

What do builders and critics say?

The construction trade did not cheer. Chartered Institute of Building chief executive Dr Victoria Hills said government should "undertake a full review" before cutting regulation such as the Future Homes Standard (Construction Management). Federation of Master Builders chief executive Brian Berry said the standard "does need to work better for smaller housebuilders". He added that a future Conservative government "must not give up on the ambition to build warmer, greener and more energy-efficient homes".

Propertymark welcomed the push on supply and backed scrapping stamp duty. But its head of policy and campaigns, Timothy Douglas, said the "£50,000 saving claim will also need to be tested against whether those savings reach consumers" (The Intermediary).

Noble Francis of the Construction Products Association told BBC Verify that regulatory costs are a serious constraint on building. He also said "both the Conservatives and Labour have been in power in the last five years and have added extra costs to house building". Housing expert Anna Clarke warned that without developer contributions, "you need to pay for" schools and infrastructure "some other way".

On the political side, Labour chairwoman Bridget Phillipson said the Tories "had 14 years in government" to help people onto the housing ladder. In her words, they "completely failed at every turn" (PA Media via the Express & Star). Griffith denied the plans meant a "free for all", saying they were about agencies and complexity rather than "removing any constraints on where people can build".

What is actually law today, and where's the angle?

The law has not moved. The GOV.UK Building Circular 01/2026 confirms The Building Regulations etc. (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2026 come into force on 24 March 2027. Several of the rules start later, on 24 September 2027, for higher-risk building work. These rules apply in England only, even though Griffith framed the £50,000 saving around England and Wales, according to BBC Verify.

Here's the angle for anyone buying land or small sites. Under the circular's transitional rules, the new requirements do not apply where a building notice, initial notice or full plans application was given before 24 March 2027. That protection holds only if work on that building starts before 24 March 2028. The margin on a small scheme can turn on which side of those dates it falls, so consider confirming the position with your building control adviser.

The next fixed date is closer. Chancellor John Healey is due to present his first Budget on 28 October, according to PA Media copy carried by Rayo. The pledge itself only bites if the Conservatives return to government, so the Budget is the nearer test when you price a new build. For a wider view of how new-build and resale strategies compare, our property investment strategies hub sets out the options.

And if new-build pricing does shift, nearby resale values are worth watching. Property Filter's deal sourcing software lets you track asking prices and reductions area by area, so you can watch where new-build and second-hand values sit side by side.

Key takeaways

• The Conservatives say their plans would cut up to £50,000 from the cost of a new home; it is an opposition pledge, not law.

• The Future Homes Standard comes into force in England on 24 March 2027, with several rules for higher-risk building work starting on 24 September 2027.

• Projects with a building notice, initial notice or full plans application given before 24 March 2027 keep the old rules if work starts before 24 March 2028.

• The Home Builders Federation puts the Future Homes Standard at £10,200 per home, within £76,000 of added costs since 2020, as reported by BBC Verify.

• Industry bodies including Propertymark, the CIOB and the FMB questioned whether savings would reach buyers or whether the standard should be scrapped at all.