Andy Burnham, tipped to become the next Labour leader, has floated scrapping Stamp Duty, reforming Council Tax and a major council house-building drive. Nothing is confirmed yet as there's no manifesto, but here's what it could realistically mean for your move, your mortgage and your household budget.
Andy Burnham's policies are getting attention following Keir Starmer's resignation as Labour leader in June. Burnham hasn't published a manifesto, but between a major speech on housing at the end of June and years of previous campaigning, some clear themes have emerged around property tax and housebuilding that could affect anyone buying, selling, or already living in a home in the UK.
Who is Andy Burnham?
Andy Burnham is the former mayor of Manchester and is currently line to lead the Labour Party as the next Prime Minister of the UK. Keir Starmer, the previous Prime Minister, resigned his position on 22nd June this year.
While procedure requires a leadership election, Burnham currently stands unopposed to take on the role. The election will take place on 27th August 2026, with only Labour party members who joined before 25th June eligible to vote.
What are Andy Burnham’s policies for housing?
Burnham has not yet produced a full manifesto outlining his policies. However, from both his recent speech and his previous campaigning there are several issues we can expect him to tackle head on.
Stamp Duty
One issue likely to be raised among Andy Burnham’s policies for housing is abolishing Stamp Duty. Burnham has long been critical of Stamp Duty, writing in the Guardian more than 15 years ago that it should be replaced with a Land Value Tax (LVT - and more on that below).
£15.4bn was paid in Stamp Duty in 2025, an 18% rise on the £13bn paid in 2024, according to HMRC figures - driven largely by the nil-rate threshold reverting from £250,000 to £125,000 in April 2025.
Council Tax
Burnham spoke about Council Tax in his speech, calling the current system of taxation ‘highly regressive’ and the use of historic 1991 pricing data ‘not justifiable’. The current system of value banding means many UK households pay too much Council Tax, and local authorities in areas with lower property values struggle to secure funding for essential services.
Land value tax, or a proportional property tax?
This is where reporting has blurred two different ideas together, and it matters because they could cost households very different amounts. Burnham has argued for a genuine land value tax (LVT) - an annual charge based purely on the value of the land itself, separate from any building on it. He's described it as
"a very productive form of taxation because you make sure land is used for good, productive purposes, and if people are sitting on it and hoarding it, they get taxed and that money can come back and be redistributed."
According to reports in The Times, he's more recently shown interest in a different proposal from the campaign group Fairer Share: a Proportional Property Tax (PPT), an annual flat rate of 0.48% of a property's total value, replacing both Stamp Duty and Council Tax. Under that model, a £300,000 home would pay around £1,440 a year, and a £1m property around £4,800.
The two aren't the same thing. A PPT taxes the whole property (land plus building); a true LVT taxes only the land. Either way, no detailed proposal has been published. Nicholas Smith, head of tax at accountancy firm Duncan and Toplis, has pointed out that
"regular, accurate property valuations across the entire UK are difficult to assess" and that a 0.48% flat rate "would hit the south east of England hardest, potentially encouraging migration away from the region to other parts of the country, or even overseas."
A major council house-building push
The most concrete-sounding pledge from Burnham's housing speech wasn't a tax at all. He said he wants "the biggest programme of council house building since the Second World War," with one funding option being to redirect the existing £39bn affordable housing programme entirely into social rent homes - a move that would have knock-on effects for schemes like shared ownership if it went ahead. He's also talked about higher-density housing in towns, aimed at boosting high streets while protecting green space.
3,864 new homes were built in Greater Manchester in 2024-25 under Burnham's mayoralty, up 28% on the previous year, with 99.8% of them on brownfield land.
What could this mean for movers, mortgages and household budgets?
Peter Stimson, director of mortgages at lender MPowered, is blunt about Stamp Duty itself: "No-one would mourn the passing of stamp duty. It's a crude and hated tax that needlessly distorts the property market," penalising people moving for work and discouraging older homeowners from downsizing. He believes scrapping it outright "could trigger a surge in market activity."
Replacing it with an annual property tax, whether a PPT or genuine LVT, is a different kind of change for household budgets. Stimson warns that "mortgage lenders will need to completely rework their affordability criteria" because the charge becomes a permanent household cost rather than a one-off. He also flags a geographic divide: areas with lower property values, including much of northern England, could end up paying less than under the current Council Tax system, while London and the South East could face significantly higher bills.
Mortgage rates themselves aren't set by politicians, but political uncertainty can feed through to the swap rate markets that lenders price off. HomeOwners Alliance's mortgage expert, Sarah Tucker, has noted that recent political disruption is already being felt in swap rates, though it's too early to say whether that pushes rates up or down. Her practical advice for anyone with a remortgage due: lock in a rate up to six months early and keep it under review in case rates move before you switch.
Joseph Lane, founder of Mortgage Lane, offers a useful reality check for anyone weighing up a move right now: these are "considerations rather than something to plan around for homebuyers or movers right now." He does think a genuine focus on housebuilding "is one of the few things that genuinely helps affordability over time," and that scrapping or reforming Stamp Duty would lower the upfront cost of buying. But as he puts it, "these are long-term possibilities, not changes you can plan a 2026 purchase around."
What should homeowners and movers do now?
At this stage, Andy Burnham's policies remain proposals rather than commitments. If you're buying, selling or remortgaging, the most sensible approach is to focus on decisions that work for your own circumstances now, rather than waiting on policy that may not arrive, or may look very different by the time it does.
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What you need to know
Will Andy Burnham scrap Stamp Duty? He's long argued for replacing it, but no formal manifesto commitment exists yet.
What is Andy Burnham's Council Tax policy? He's called the current system "highly regressive" and its 1991 valuations "not justifiable," and is reportedly interested in a proportional property tax model, though nothing has been formally proposed.
Is a Land Value Tax the same as the Proportional Property Tax being discussed? No. A Land Value Tax charges owners based on the value of their land alone. The Proportional Property Tax model linked to Burnham charges a flat 0.48% of a property's total value, including the building.
Should I delay moving house because of these proposals? Mortgage brokers quoted on this topic advise against it - there's no manifesto or timeline, so any changes are described as long-term possibilities rather than something to plan a 2026 move around.
Would scrapping Stamp Duty affect me if I'm not moving? Only indirectly, through wider market activity. An annual property tax like the PPT would be a more direct, ongoing cost for existing homeowners, not just movers.
