Homebuyers would welcome tax cuts on stamp duty
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The Conservatives have pledged to wipe out stamp duty on the average home.
They would scrap the 1% rate currently paid on properties bought for between £120,000 and £250,000. The Lib Dems want the limit raised to £150,000.
Michael Howard said the plans would help first time buyers get their feet on the housing ladder and families wanting to move into a bigger home.
Chancellor Gordon Brown criticised the Tories' tax and spending plans in a new document called the "Tory Black Hole".
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It's time we stopped using people's homes as a means for raising stealth taxes
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He said their plans were "irresponsible and ultimately fraudulent" and that commitments being made now would cause problems in the future.
Lib Dem Treasury spokesman Vince Cable said the Conservative tax plans had been shown to be "chaotic and dishonest" and dismissed their stamp duty move as an "uncosted bribe" based on "fantasy economics".
Only the Lib Dems were honest about taxation, having put forward a fully costed plan to raise the stamp duty threshold to £150,000, he added.
But shadow chancellor Oliver Letwin dismissed claims his figures did not add up, and said it was Labour who had the funding gap and the need for "stealth taxes".
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STAMP DUTY FOR UK HOMES
Up to £120,000 - nil
£120,001 to £250,000 - 1%
£250,001 to £500,000 - 3%
More than £500,000 - 4%
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Unveiling the new policy, Mr Howard said stamp duty had risen under Labour from an average of £900 to £1,800.
Under the Tories the average home owner, those with properties valued at about £183,000, would pay nothing.
The home was a family's biggest asset and the "bedrock" of its security - both personal and financial, he said.
'Wasteful'
"It's time we stopped using people's homes as a means for raising stealth taxes.
"Mr Blair is spending your money so quickly and so wastefully that he needs to take more of it."
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Conservative tax plans not only add up but will help to avoid a recession
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Of the £4bn set aside by the Conservatives for tax cuts, £3bn has been earmarked to pay for council tax discounts and to make pensions exempt from tax.
Tory Treasury spokesman George Osborne defended his party's plans not to reduce income taxes saying his party had offered tax cuts "across the generations".
"We believe we have chosen things which help people who are trying to do the right thing in life."
Homelessness charity Shelter said the Conservatives were "raiding the public purse to promote private home ownership", rather than using the money to increase the supply of affordable housing.
Director Adam Sampson said: "Any relief for buyers is likely to be short lived because the investment will be swallowed up by house price inflation."
Labour meanwhile is putting law and order in the spotlight with a pledge to cut crime by 15% by 2008 if re-elected and tackle anti-social behaviour.
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QUICK GUIDE
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Lib Dem leader Charles Kennedy has been concentrating on plans to scrap tuition and top-up fees to reduce student debt.
An ICM poll in Thursday's Guardian newspaper put Labour on 39%, the Conservatives on 33% and the Lib Dems on 22%. This shows Labour and the Tories unchanged from 14 April and the Lib Dems up one point.
A YouGov poll due to be published in Friday's Daily Telegraph puts Labour on 37% and the Tories on 34% - both up one point. The Lib Dems meanwhile registered 22%, down one point.
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