Andy Burnham, the former Manchester Mayor expected to become Prime Minister later this month, could introduce an alternative to stamp duty following his past endorsements of property tax reform. Burnham has criticised stamp duty—a tax paid when buying property or land over £125,000, or £300,000 for first-time buyers in England and Northern Ireland—and suggested a Land Value Tax (LVT) as a more productive alternative.
Burnham's Stance on Property Tax Reform
Burnham has previously described LVT as a way to ensure land is used productively, taxing those who hoard land and redistributing the revenue. While past endorsement does not guarantee enactment, scrapping stamp duty could be a popular move, especially for first-time buyers struggling with affordability.
Stuart Adam from the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) told the BBC: "More or less any property tax or local tax is going to be better than stamp duty. What stamp duty does is discourage people from buying and selling ... [Scrapping it] would lead to less pressure on the housing market - less need to build more stuff."
Potential Challenges and Industry Views
Lucian Cook, head of residential research at Savills, warned that such a significant change without an electoral mandate could be difficult. "It is such a big change with clear winners and losers. It will be difficult to pull off within the rest of this Parliament. For any new tax system you bring in, you would want it to be revenue neutral. There is little doubt that [stamp duty] suppresses transaction activity, but it's about balancing that against the alternative."
Property website Rightmove is among industry voices calling for stamp duty abolition, at least for first-time buyers on new-build and resale properties. Alex Slater, director of new homes at Rightmove, said: "First time buyers underpin the whole housing market, but affordability and getting that first foot on the ladder is becoming more difficult. We need a set of reforms that go further, faster and work together, from stamp duty changes to more investment in affordable housing, to give this group a better chance of getting onto the ladder and keeping the market moving."
The Express has contacted Andy Burnham for comment.
