Tories vow to slash cost of weekly shop and price of new build homes by £50,000 by axing 'polluter pays' fee

In his conference address, the Shadow Chancellor is expected to take direct aim at Prime Minister Andy Burnham, accusing him of chasing "a socialist fever dream of the 1970s".

The shadow chancellor will tell delegates: "Our task just got bigger. We face a Prime Minister that wants to return Britain to an imagined past."

Mr Griffith is set to pledge: "Cheaper homes, lower taxes and less red tape. This will be the most ambitious deregulation project in a generation. We will set out our plans line by line every bill, every regulation, every chapter."

The party will commit to scrapping the Future Homes Standard, which from next year would require developers to incorporate low-carbon heating systems such as heat pumps and district heat networks into new properties.

Conservative researchers have cited a 2023 Birmingham City Council document estimating that heat pumps, enhanced efficiency measures and solar panel installation could add £30,789 to the cost of building a detached home.

That same analysis, however, also found the technologies could save homeowners £2,715 annually on energy bills, recouping the outlay within roughly 11 years.

Andrew Griffith is poised to present what he calls 'the biggest deregulation project in a generation' at the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham, with a central pledge to reduce the cost of new homes by approximately £50,000

PA

Stamp duty abolition, first announced at last year's party conference and now reaffirmed in Kemi Badenoch's document The Right Way, forms another pillar of the affordability drive.

Shadow Housing Secretary Katie Lam has warned "building anything in this country is too expensive and it takes too long," making it "unbelievably difficult for aspirational young people to get on the housing ladder".

The Conservatives would also abolish both Natural England and the Environment Agency, folding their responsibilities into the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Shadow Environment Secretary Victoria Atkins described the merger as "common sense for our countryside and the cost" amid "rocketing food prices, record numbers of farms closing and nature in decline".

Separately, Mr Griffith will target the extended producer responsibility scheme, which obliges manufacturers to cover the costs of managing their packaging waste.

Scrapping this regime could remove what the party estimates is a £1.5billion burden on British businesses.

The Conservatives argue that eliminating these fees would ultimately feed through to lower prices on supermarket shelves, easing pressure on household budgets at a time when the cost of living remains a primary concern for voters across the country.

Mr Griffith is expected to describe Britain's "tax code" as "a cat's cradle of complexity," arguing: "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 add: "So, as well as cutting taxes, tax simplification will be a mission for every treasury minister."

The Shadow Chancellor's growth agenda extends to major infrastructure, with explicit backing 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," Mr Griffith will tell the Birmingham audience.

Lawrence Newport, co-founder of the campaign group Looking for Growth, hailed the commitments as "significant and radical".

Industry figures have also voiced support for revisiting packaging levies. British Retail Consortium chief executive Helen Dickinson said "it's high time to review" the fees imposed on producers.

Karen Betts, head of the food and drink federation, cautioned that the current framework was "adding billions to the cost of making food and drink," urging ministers to consider "streamlining" the system.