Liz Truss to ‘announce stamp duty cut in mini-budget’

Move comes as average UK house price leapt by 15.5 per cent annually in July

The government is set to cut stamp duty as part of Liz Truss’s attempt to drive growth in a mini-budget later this week, according to reports.

The economic blueprint, to be unveiled by chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng on Friday, aims to stimulate further growth in the property market and help more young people buy their first home.

Whitehall sources told The Times that stamp duty cuts were the “rabbit” in the mini-budget, and government officials had been working on the plans for more than a month. Critics said the move would make the housing crisis “even worse”.