Ed Miliband will announce plans for first-time buyers to pay no stamp duty on properties worth up to £300,000 . First-time buyers will pay no stamp duty on properties worth up to £300,000 and have priority in the sale of new homes under a Labour government , Ed Miliband will say today . Mr Miliband will say Labour ’ s reduction in the rate of stamp duty to zero would benefit nine in ten first-time buyers – saving them up to £5,000 in tax . Labour claims its tax break – which would last three years – would be funded by a further squeeze on tax avoidance , higher levies on foreign buyers and cuts in tax relief for landlords who fail to keep properties up to standard . A Labour government would also change planning law to give first-time buyers who have lived in a local authority area for more than three years ‘ first call ’ on up to half of homes built locally . Labour aides say they would have a two-month window in which to buy a home before it was made more generally available in a reform designed to overcome local opposition to housing developments . The policy announcements – Labour ’ s most eye-catching so far in the campaign – are designed to counter Tory plans to expand Help to Buy loans , the right to buy for housing-association tenants and to offer 200,000 ‘ starter homes ’ , sold at a 20 per cent discount . They are also meant to trump Chancellor George Osborne ’ s reforms to stamp duty , announced late last year , which have delivered savings for 98 per cent of homebuyers . Mr Osborne ’ s changes mean there is no stamp duty paid on the first £125,000 of a property purchase , 2 per cent between £125,000 and £250,000 and 5 per cent between £250,000 and £925,000 . The changes are paid for by big hikes to duty on more expensive properties . Speaking in Stockton , Co Durham , Mr Miliband will warn of a housing crisis in which a severe lack of homes being built has priced millions out of the property market and left many who want to buy living in private rented accommodation . The rate of home ownership has slipped to its lowest for 30 years , and buy-to-let landlords and foreign investors are snapping up properties before others get a chance . Labour claims it will oversee the construction of a million homes by 2020 and introduce controversial ‘ use or lose it ’ powers ensuring developers build on land rather than hoarding it . Local authorities will be able to levy council tax on sites which remain undeveloped to try to force developers ’ hands . ‘ There ’ s nothing more British than the dream of home ownership , starting out in a place of your own , ’ Mr Miliband will say . Mr Miliband will say Labour ’ s reduction in the rate of stamp duty to zero would benefit nine in ten first-time buyers – saving them up to £5,000 in tax . ‘ But for so many young people today that dream is fading with more people than ever renting when they want to buy , new properties being snapped up before local people get a look-in , young families wondering if this country will ever work for them . It is simply too expensive for so many young people to buy a home today , saving up for the deposit , paying the fees and having enough left over for the stamp duty . ‘ So we ’ re going to act so we can transform the opportunities for young working people in our country . For the first three years of the next Labour government , we will abolish stamp duty for all first-time buyers of homes under £300,000. ’ Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls insists the party ’ s plan for stamp duty is ‘ fully funded ’ . Eric Pickles , right , said rent control is the most effective way of destroying a city - bar bombing it . The stamp-duty cut would cost £225million a year . Labour says it would be paid for by tackling tax avoidance by landlords , which HMRC has calculated costs more than £550million each year . A ‘ national register of landlords ’ will mean this can be cut by at least 20 per cent , generating £100million , Labour claims . It would also increase tax paid by holding companies that buy UK property on behalf of investors and raise stamp duty on buyers from outside the EU . The party would also cut tax relief that rogue landlords get for repairs and upkeep when their properties are not up to standard . Landlords who let furnished properties can claim tax relief even if they are not investing in their property .
Labour ’ s reduction in stamp duty would benefit nine in ten first-time buyers . Tax break funded by squeeze on tax avoidance , higher levies on foreign buyers and cuts in tax relief for landlords who fail to maintain properties . Labour would also give the buyers ‘ first call ’ on half of homes built locally .