Changes to stamp duty are helping thousands of people get on the housing ladder, Prime Minister Theresa May has said.
The reforms, announced last year’s autumn Budget, cut stamp duty for 95% of first-time buyers, with 80% paying no fee at all.
Mrs May, who was in Wokingham, Berkshire, meeting people who have benefited from the changes, said she wanted everyone to achieve the “British dream” of owning their own home.
She said: “What I have seen today is somebody, a young couple, a young woman… able to buy their own home and do that because of Government help.
“Government Help to Buy, which is helping people get their foot on the housing ladder, and the stamp duty exemption is making a real difference to people.
“I want to see everybody able to achieve the British dream of owning their own home.
“Sadly too many young people particularly today are worried that they will never be able to do that.
“That’s why the Government has put more money into enabling councils to build homes, more affordable homes.”
The Government estimates that around 16,000 first-time buyers have made savings since the changes took effect in November, with more than a million predicted to benefit over the next five years.
Mrs May added: “We’re making a real difference, as I’ve seen today, young people today who now have their own home who wouldn’t have been able to do that without the help the Government is giving them.”