Andy Burnham's property tax proposals, explained

Would you pay more or less? Open the calculator

The proposal in 30 seconds

• Scrap council tax and stamp duty on main homes in England.
• Replace both with a single annual charge of 0.48% of your home's current value — the Proportional Property Tax (PPT), designed by the campaign group Fairer Share.
• 0.96% on second homes, empty homes and homes owned by non-residents (which also keep stamp duty).
• The owner pays, not the tenant — renters would no longer get a council tax bill.
• For existing owners, any increase over today's bill is capped at £1,200 a year until the home is next sold; cash-poor owners could defer until sale.
• Fairer Share's modelling claims roughly 77% of households would pay less, with savings concentrated outside London and the South East.

What Burnham has actually said

Burnham has called council tax "highly regressive" and has repeatedly cited the Fairer Share plan approvingly — it is the single most concrete tax idea attached to his name. He has separately spoken in favour of a land value tax, a related but distinct idea that would tax only the land beneath a property. What he has not done is commit a future government to either: as of July 2026 the PPT remains an endorsement made as a mayor and candidate, and his team has made no policy commitment. On income tax he has made no specific proposal at all — he has committed to the government's existing borrowing limits, and the income-tax restructuring being talked about comes from the Prosperity 2030 blueprint endorsed by one of his advisers, not from Burnham himself. Our leadership analysis covers his wider positions on housing, social care and welfare.

What would happen to council tax?

Council tax in England would be abolished. The A–H bands — still based on 1991 valuations — would disappear, and the annual bill would track your home's current value instead of which band your council assigned it three decades ago. Until any of this becomes law, council tax carries on as normal: check your current bill with the council tax calculator.

What would happen to stamp duty?

Stamp duty land tax would be abolished on main homes — removing the one-off bill that many economists say discourages moving — but kept for second-home and non-resident purchases. Buyers can see what they pay under today's bands with the stamp duty calculator. Note the Conservatives propose abolishing stamp duty outright while keeping council tax, and Reform UK proposes cutting it with new 0/2/4% bands — three very different routes to the same complaint.

Who pays more, who pays less?

Because the charge tracks current values, the rule of thumb is simple: the lower your home's value relative to your current council tax, the more likely you are to save. In practice that means most households in the Midlands, the North and Wales would tend to pay less, while owners of high-value homes — concentrated in London and the South East — would often pay more. The calculator works out exactly where you'd land, including the transitional cap and what happens to stamp duty if you're buying.

Is any of this government policy?

No. Three things are worth keeping separate:

• The PPT — a campaign proposal Burnham has endorsed. Not law; no bill, no Budget line, no Treasury costing.
• The "mansion tax" — an annual surcharge on £2m+ homes that is already legislated, starting April 2028, under the current government. It exists whatever happens to the PPT.
• Prosperity 2030 — a UCL blueprint endorsed by one of Burnham's economic advisers that goes further: a 1% property tax replacing council tax and stamp duty, paired with income tax reform.

Conservative spokespeople have dismissed Burnham-linked property tax plans outright, so if it does move from proposal to policy, expect it to be a defining fight of the next election. The Autumn Budget watch page tracks what's actually confirmed.

See where you stand

• Andy Burnham's property tax calculator — your home under the 0.48% plan vs today.
• Council tax calculator — your bill under today's system.
• Stamp duty calculator — today's bands and every party's plan.
• Every party's impact on you — one form, five answers.

Sources & further reading

• Fairer Share — the Proportional Property Tax campaign and its modelling.
• Chartered Institute of Taxation — Burnham's tax agenda: early signals.
• Rathbones — overview of Andy Burnham's tax plans.
• GOV.UK — current Stamp Duty Land Tax rates and rules.

Figures are from public material and may change. Not financial, legal or tax advice.