Conservatives Unveil Sweeping Deregulation Plan, Target Housing Costs and Tax Complexity

The Conservative Party has opened its annual conference in Birmingham with a wide-ranging economic platform that aims to slash regulation, cut housing costs, and simplify the tax code — pledges that could reshape the political landscape and influence sterling sentiment if they gain traction in opinion polls.

Party leader Kemi Badenoch released a nearly 100-page document titled *The Right Way* on the first day of the conference, warning that "living standards have stalled" and that "regulation has accumulated faster than anyone can remove it." Badenoch said the Conservatives will "win the next election" by following a set of key principles she outlined.

On Monday, shadow chancellor Andrew Griffith is expected to unveil the party's detailed economic policies. "This will be the most ambitious deregulation project in a generation," he will say. "We will be more prepared than ever before. We will set out our plans line by line – every bill, every regulation, every chapter."

Housing and Property

A central element of the plan targets the cost of new homes. The party has proposed scrapping the Future Homes Standard and housebuilding rules due to take effect next year, which would require developers to include low-carbon heating technology such as heat pumps or district heat networks in new designs.

Conservative researchers cited a 2023 document from Birmingham City Council estimating that improved efficiency, heat pumps, and solar panels could increase the cost of building a detached home by £30,789. The same analysis found those technologies could cut energy bills by £2,715 per year, recouping the upfront cost in roughly 11 years.

The party also plans to abolish stamp duty on property purchases — already a stated Conservative policy — as part of an effort to push house prices down further. In addition, the Conservatives would replace the existing section 106 agreements and the Community Infrastructure Levy, which fund infrastructure when developers build, with a single charge, aiming to speed up planning approvals.

Deregulation and Environmental Agencies

The manifesto would abolish Natural England and the Environment Agency, folding their functions into the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra). Shadow environment secretary Victoria Atkins said the move would represent "common sense for our countryside and the cost" at a time "of rocketing food prices, record numbers of farms closing and nature in decline."

Another proposal targets the extended producer responsibility regime, which requires producers to pay for managing packaging waste. Scrapping it would lift a £1.5 billion burden from businesses, according to the Conservatives.

Tax Simplification and Infrastructure

Griffith will describe the UK's tax code as "a cat's cradle of complexity." "Because many of us have worked in business, we understand that time spent filling in a tax return or hanging on an HMRC helpline steals time away from your business, your family – the very reason you work so hard," he will say. "So, as well as cutting taxes, tax simplification will be a mission for every treasury minister."

The shadow chancellor will also back plans for a third runway at Heathrow Airport. "We're 'all in' for growth and we will legislate to sweep away the blockers to getting the infrastructure our country needs built," he will say.

Shadow energy secretary Andrew Bowie is expected to challenge the Scottish National Party's policy of blocking nuclear power stations in Scotland. "The SNP's Luddite approach is costing jobs in Scotland, harming our energy security and ending Scotland's rich and powerful association with the nuclear industry," Bowie will say. "If John Swinney and SNP ministers want to have a fight over any plans that would deliver thousands of jobs and protect energy security, then I say bring it on."

Opposition Reaction

Labour Party chairwoman Bridget Phillipson said the Conservatives wanted to take the country "back to a politics that let so many people down over the past 40 years." She added: "The Tories had 14 years in government to grow our economy and help people get on the housing ladder, but they completely failed at every turn."

Liberal Democrat Treasury spokeswoman Daisy Cooper dismissed the pledges: "No-one can take anything the Conservatives say on the economy seriously given their litany of fantasy-land financial pledges."

Reform UK Treasury spokesman Robert Jenrick said: "The Tories are once again copying our policies." But he argued the Conservatives cannot match Reform's pledge to raise the personal tax allowance from £12,570 to £15,000 per year, because they "refuse to cut migrant welfare, net zero subsidies and the ballooning benefits bill."

The conference continues through the week, with further policy announcements expected.