Andy Burnham's property tax: would you pay more or less?
The Prime Minister backs the Fairer Share Proportional Property Tax — scrapping council tax and stamp duty in England and replacing them with a single flat annual charge on what your home is worth. On 27 July 2026, asked whether he would change or scrap stamp duty in the coming Budget, he ruled it out: "That won't be happening." Council tax reform remains live; a change on this scale, for now, does not. Put your own home in the calculator below to see what the plan would mean.
What is Andy Burnham's property tax proposal?
Andy Burnham has publicly backed the most talked-about property tax reform in England: replacing two of the country's main property taxes — council tax and stamp duty land tax — with a single Proportional Property Tax (PPT). Instead of council tax bands frozen to 1991 valuations and a lump-sum stamp duty bill when you buy, owners would pay a flat percentage of their home's current value every year. The specific version he has endorsed comes from the campaign group Fairer Share, whose property tax plan sets that rate at 0.48%.
Where it comes from
Council tax is widely criticised as out of date and regressive: the bands still rest on what homes were worth in 1991, so an owner of a modest house can pay a larger share of its value than the owner of a mansion. Stamp duty, meanwhile, is disliked by many economists for taxing people simply for moving, which can discourage downsizing and gum up the market. Fairer Share has promoted the PPT as a single fix for both, and Burnham has cited it approvingly. He has separately spoken in favour of a land value tax — which would tax only the land beneath a property rather than the whole thing — a related but distinct idea that isn't the plan modelled here.
How it would work
- A flat 0.48% of the property's value, charged every year, replacing both council tax and stamp duty on a main home.
- A higher 0.96% rate on second homes, empty homes, and homes owned by non-residents.
- Stamp duty abolished for main homes, but kept for second-home and non-resident purchases.
- The charge falls on the owner, not the tenant.
- For existing owners, any increase over today's bill would be capped at £1,200 a year during a transition — a cap that ends when the home is next sold.
- Owners who would struggle to pay (for example asset-rich but cash-poor pensioners) could defer the charge until the property is sold.
- Fairer Share's own modelling claims roughly 77% of households would pay less, with the savings concentrated outside London and the South East.
What would happen to council tax?
Under the plan Burnham has backed, council tax would be abolished in England and the flat annual charge would take its place. The A–H bands — still based on what your home was worth in 1991 — would disappear, and your bill would depend only on your home's current value, not on which band your council put it in. Because the charge falls on the owner rather than the tenant, renters would no longer receive a council tax bill at all.
None of this has happened yet: council tax continues as normal unless and until a government legislates. You can check your current bill with our council tax calculator, and compare it against the proposed charge with the calculator on this page.
Now he's Prime Minister, will it actually happen?
Backing an idea as a mayor and legislating it as Prime Minister are very different things, and the honest answer today is that nobody knows. What can be said is what each side of the argument has going for it.
What makes it more likely: the arithmetic. Chancellor John Healey inherits a gap analysts put at around £22bn between spending commitments and forecast revenue, and Burnham has already said he may ask people to pay "a little more". Council tax is built on 1991 valuations that almost nobody defends on the merits, so reform has intellectual support well beyond his own party. And unlike most revenue-raisers, this one is already worked up in detail by an existing campaign.
What makes it less likely: the losers are concentrated, vocal and mostly in London and the South East — including a great many Labour seats. The Centre for London puts the capital's share of the bill at about £7.5bn, and property firm Savills has warned landlords may sell rather than absorb the 0.96% rate on second and rented homes. Revaluation is also administratively brutal: every home in England needs a current value before you can charge a percentage of it, which is precisely why council tax revaluation has been ducked for thirty-five years. Governments in their first months tend to bank easy wins, and Burnham's opening moves — the electricity VAT cut and a £2 bus fare cap — were exactly that.
The realistic read: not in the autumn Budget, but a review or consultation is plausible, and the mansion-tax surcharge already legislated for 2028 gives the Treasury a smaller, easier lever to pull first.
What it would mean in London
London is where this proposal is won or lost, because a flat national percentage collides with the capital's house prices. On the Centre for London's figures a £600,000 London home would pay about £2,880 a year under the 0.48% rate, roughly £812 more than the average Band D council tax bill. That is not a mansion — it is an ordinary terraced house in much of the city, which is what makes the politics so difficult.
The mirror image is the North and the Midlands, where the same flat rate cuts bills substantially because house prices sit below the national average while council tax bands often sit above it. That redistribution is the entire point of the policy and the entire problem with it. Enter your own home value in the calculator above to see which side of the line you fall on.
Burnham's wider tax proposals
Property tax reform is the most concrete tax idea attached to Burnham's name — he has cited the Fairer Share plan approvingly and separately spoken in favour of a land value tax — a different thing, and worth understanding before you read the coverage. Now that he is Prime Minister the question is whether the PPT moves from campaign idea to government policy. As of 22 July 2026 it remains a proposal: nothing has been announced, and the measures he has actually taken in office are a VAT cut on electricity and a bus fare cap. The pressure runs both ways — the Treasury needs revenue, but the Centre for London has warned the capital would absorb roughly £7.5bn of the cost, and Savills has said landlords may sell rather than absorb the higher charge on second and rented homes. For what we know about his positions on housing, social care and welfare, see our full leadership analysis, and for the bolder 1% version proposed by UCL researchers see Prosperity 2030. The government's separate £2m+ "mansion tax" surcharge — already legislated to start in 2028 — is included in the calculator's "today" column.
The case for and against
Supporters argue
- Most households — especially in the Midlands, the North and Wales — would pay less than under council tax.
- Scrapping stamp duty removes a penalty on moving, potentially helping first-time buyers and downsizers and freeing up under-used homes.
- A charge tied to current values is fairer than bands frozen at 1991 prices.
- It shifts more of the burden onto very high-value property — much of it in London — that is lightly taxed today.
Critics argue
- Owners of expensive homes, concentrated in London and the South East, would often pay considerably more.
- It needs accurate, up-to-date valuations of every home — administratively hard and open to dispute.
- Someone who recently paid a big stamp-duty bill could feel double-charged (the plan offers a transitional credit, not modelled here).
- Turning an occasional tax into an annual one is politically difficult, and can feel like a tax on simply owning a home.
Model your own bill
Compare your current council tax and stamp duty against the proposed 0.48% / 0.96% charge. Today's figures use real England rules — 2026/27 stamp duty bands, your own council tax, and the high-value surcharge legislated to begin in 2028 on homes worth £2m+. The proposed figures use the rates above.
Your property
The proposed rate
These are fixed in the proposal, not free choices. 0.48% is the rate that raises the same revenue as today's council tax and stamp duty combined; the higher band is exactly double.
The “per year” totals are the steady-state annual position. Stamp duty (England 2026/27 bands) is a one-off paid only on purchase, shown at the foot of each column. The 2028 high-value surcharge (£2,500–£7,500 on homes £2m+) is an annual charge once in force. Under the Proportional Property Tax, stamp duty is abolished on main homes but kept for second homes and non-resident buyers, and existing owners can cap any annual increase at £1,200 above what they currently pay (council tax plus any surcharge); the cap is lost on sale. Payment deferral and a credit for stamp duty recently paid are not modelled. Not financial advice.
Sources & further reading
- Fairer Share — the Proportional Property Tax campaign and its modelling.
- Rathbones — overview of Andy Burnham's tax plans.
- GOV.UK — current Stamp Duty Land Tax rates and rules.
- House of Lords Library — Economic and taxation policy — on reforming council tax and stamp duty.
Figures on this page are illustrative and based on reported proposals; rates and rules may change. This is general information, not financial, legal or tax advice.
Frequently asked questions
How will the proportional property tax affect me?
Enter your home's value and current council tax in the calculator above to see whether Burnham's proportional property tax would raise or lower your annual bill, and what happens to stamp duty.
Is Andy Burnham's property tax government policy?
No — it's a proposal. Burnham has publicly backed it and the campaign group Fairer Share promotes it, but it is not law and no government has committed to it. Burnham became Prime Minister on 20 July 2026 and has still not adopted it as policy — his first measures were a VAT cut on electricity and a £2 bus fare cap.
Will the property tax happen now Burnham is Prime Minister?
Unknown, and not imminent. He took office on 20 July 2026 and has announced no property tax measure — his first acts were a VAT cut on electricity and a £2 bus fare cap. The Treasury's need for revenue pushes towards it; the concentration of losers in London and the South East, plus the need to revalue every home in England, pushes against. A review or consultation is more plausible than legislation at the autumn Budget.
How much would the property tax cost in London?
On Centre for London figures a £600,000 London home would pay about £2,880 a year at the 0.48% rate — roughly £812 more than the average Band D council tax bill. The think tank estimates the capital would carry around £7.5bn of the total cost, which is the main political obstacle to the policy.
What would it mean for landlords?
Second, empty and non-resident-owned homes are charged at the higher 0.96% rate under the Fairer Share plan, and the charge falls on the owner rather than the tenant. Savills has warned that some landlords would sell rather than absorb it. Nothing has been legislated, so no action is needed today.
Would Andy Burnham scrap council tax?
Under the plan he has backed, council tax in England would be abolished and replaced by a flat 0.48% annual charge on your home's current value, paid by the owner rather than the tenant. Council tax continues as normal unless a government legislates.
What is the Fairer Share property tax?
Fairer Share is the campaign group behind the Proportional Property Tax: 0.48% of a home's value each year replacing council tax and stamp duty on main homes, with a 0.96% rate on second, empty and non-resident-owned homes. It's the version of property tax reform Burnham has endorsed.
Has Andy Burnham proposed a land value tax?
He has spoken favourably of a land value tax — a charge on the land beneath a property rather than the whole thing — but the concrete plan he has endorsed is the Fairer Share Proportional Property Tax, which taxes the full property value at 0.48%. There is no detailed Burnham land value tax scheme to model, so the calculator on this page models the PPT.
How would a proportional property tax work?
It would replace council tax (and, in the Fairer Share version, stamp duty) in England with an annual charge set as a percentage of your home's current value — the version Burnham has cited uses 0.48%.
Would I pay more or less?
Broadly, owners of lower-value homes and those in areas with high council tax tend to gain, while owners of higher-value homes tend to pay more. Use the calculator on this page for an estimate.