The banking sector has naturally come under close scrutiny, with Labour, the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats all proposing a levy on the banks. Labour would introduce a global banks levy, while the Lib Dems make it clear it would force banks to pay a levy in return for the state support it has received.
Under Labour, banks will face tighter regulation and the FSA will gain greater powers, while publically-controlled banks will be broken up.
In contrast, the Conservatives said it would reform the regulation and structure of the banking system, break up the FSA, place the Bank of England in charge of prudential supervision, and increase competition in the banking industry. A competition review will inform its strategy for selling off state-controlled banks.
A key pledge of the Lib Dems is to break up the banks into retail and investment sections and get them lending again to support businesses.
Both Labour and the Tories have pledged that first-time buyers will not pay Stamp Duty on property purchases below £250,000. However, while Labour has proposed the measure for two years, paid for by a 5% rate on homes worth over £1m, the Conservatives have pledged to permanently extend the scheme.
Mirroring each other, Labour and the Lib Dems have both proposed remutualising Northern Rock (see below), which Labour put as part of a wider commitment to building societies.
Among other Lib Dems proposals are scrapping HIPs while retaining the requirement of energy performance certificates; a ‘mansion tax’ on properties worth over £2m of 1%, which would be applied to the value of the property over that figure; and giving further powers to HMRC to prevent properties avoiding Stamp Duty if they are placed in an offshore trust.
However, buy-to-let property holders could be hit by the party’s proposal to lower the annual Capital Gains Tax allowance from £10,000 to £2000.
