Kemi Badenoch vowed to abolish stamp duty for home buyers as she laid out Tory plans for immigration and tax in her keynote speech at the Conservative Party Conference.
The embattled opposition leader thanked members for "standing by" her as she insisted the Tories are the only party that "meets the test of our generation".
She put the economy at the heart of her address, with sturdy fiscal rules and stronger borders at the centre of the agenda.
See also: Who is Hamish Badenoch? Banker, father and husband of Tory leader Kemi
“We must free up our housing market, because a society where no one can afford to buy or move is a society where social mobility is dead,” Ms Badenoch told the event in Manchester on Wednesday.
“So I have looked at the stamp duty thresholds to see where we can change them. I have looked at the rates you have to pay to see if we can lower them.
“I have decided that we can't, because that simply wouldn't be enough. Conference, the next Conservative government will abolish stamp duty.”
Read more: The end of stamp duty? Here's what scrapping the property tax would mean for London home buyers
Ms Badenoch said a Tory administration would also ban doctors from going on strike and cut £47 billion of spending by restricting welfare and shrinking the Civil Service.
She confirmed plans to leave the European Convention on Human Rights and deport 150,000 people a year because she said the UK had become “addicted to migration”.
"In the NHS, industrial action has kept waiting lists high for far too long,” Ms Badenoch said. “Enough is enough. We will ban doctors from going on strike.”
It comes as a More in Common poll ahead of Ms Badenoch’s speech found Nigel Farage’s Reform UK had reached a new high of 13 points with voters and the Conservatives trailed behind in third place.
"Every generation must face its test,” Ms Badenoch said.
"In the 1940s, our test was to defeat fascism and ensure victory of freedom.
"In the 1980s, it was to banish socialism and deliver prosperity.
"In the 2020s, our test is to restore a strong economy, secure our borders and rebuild Britain's strength so our children inherit a country that works.
"Ladies and gentlemen, conference, thank you. Thank you for standing by the only party that can meet the test of our generation, the only party that can deliver a stronger economy and stronger borders."
Ms Badenoch said the Conservatives had "made life better for so many" and steered the country through its "darkest days".
She added that her party must be ready to "do the same again" as she compared the UK with the success of Poland and China.
"While Britain was defining what a woman is, China was building five nuclear reactors," she said.
She said the country is "addicted to migration" and finds itself in a state where it has "potholes that have been around for so long people are holding birthday parties" for them.
Young people "feel they are living somewhere where things never get any better", she said.
"We need a positive vision for this country and a plan to deliver it.
"We need a new approach, a new approach that delivers a stronger economy and stronger builders. We owe that to our children."
Following the speech, Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey urged "one nation" Conservatives to join his party, accusing Ms Badenoch of choosing to "abandon the traditional British values of tolerance, decency and the rule of law" over her plans to leave the ECHR.
Green Party leader Zack Polanski argued Ms Badenoch was "speaking to the room, not listening to the nation".
He said: "While she got rounds of applause from men in suits sitting in front of her, she still sounds painfully out of touch with those dressed and ready to work for this country."
Meanwhile, Labour chairwoman Anna Turley said: "Kemi Badenoch is in complete denial. The public saw the Tories' disastrous blueprint for Britain across their 14 years of failure in government - and the Conservatives still won't apologise for the mess they left.
"Kemi Badenoch set herself a new 'golden economic rule' today and broke it immediately. It's the same old Tories, with the same old policies without a plan. They didn't work then and you can't trust them now.”
The speech comes at a difficult time for the Conservative Party after it suffered a string of defections to Reform UK, which it trails in the polls along with Labour.
Tory London Assembly member Keith Prince joined Mr Farage’s party on the eve of the Conservative conference at the weekend, along with a number of councillors who made the move.
It followed the defection of Tory MP Danny Kruger to Reform last month.
The losses have added to the pressure on Ms Badenoch’s leadership, but she said those who had walked away from the party lacked mettle and that the Conservatives need backers who are not going to “jump into whatever lifeboat they think is passing by”.
However, she conceded she was “sorry to lose” supporters amid the “long, difficult journey” in Opposition.
The next major test for Ms Badenoch’s party will come in May’s elections, which current polls suggest could see heavy losses.
The Tory leader has refused to be drawn on whether she might resign following a poor set of results.
Voters will go to the polls to elect councillors in all London boroughs and parts of England, along with elections to the Scottish Parliament and Welsh Senedd.
