Find the best estate agent near you Start here
June 22, 2026
KEY INFORMATION
Andy Burnham said he wanted a “reform of council tax” at his by-election campaign launch, calling the current system “highly regressive” and its 1991-based valuations “not justifiable”.
Any future reform could include:
According to The Times, Andy Burnham is said to be a fan of a proposal put forward by the campaign group Fairer Share, which wants to replace stamp duty and council tax with an annual property tax equivalent to 0.48% of a home’s value.
If this were to go ahead, it would mean that property tax of £1,440 would be payable on a house valued at £300,000.
Andy Burnham has also previously explored the idea of stamp duty reform and wrote in The Guardian about replacing stamp duty on property sales with a land value tax.
For homeowners, buyers and movers, any reforms to property tax could have significant implications for moving costs and housing market activity.
However, no detailed proposals have been published and significant reform would undoubtedly be politically contentious. As soon as we have more information, we will update this page. You can also stay up to date by signing up to our newsletter.
Mortgage rates are not set by politicians, but political and economic uncertainty can influence financial markets, which in turn affects borrowing costs.
Analysts say investors will look closely at any future fiscal plans, particularly if they involve significant borrowing or major tax reform.
Large policy shifts can create uncertainty, which may feed through to mortgage markets. This could result in mortgage rates increasing, however it’s too early to predict whether that would happen.
Our Mortgage Expert Sarah Tucker said:
“The disruption from the Prime Minister resigning is starting to have an effect on the swap rate market, and we don’t yet know whether that’s going to be positive or negative.
If you’ve got a remortgage coming up, lock in your rate six months early and keep it under review. Your advisor should be able to offer that for you – it’s called a price match.“
Get fee-free mortgage advice from the award-winning expert advisers at Mortgage Advice Bureau.
Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage.
Please note some branches of Mortgage Advice Bureau may charge a fee for mortgage advice if you go direct. The fee is up to 1% but a typical fee is 0.3% of the amount borrowed. So make sure you use this site, this form or phone number for fee-free advice.
Whenever there is speculation about a new Prime Minister or major political change, housing markets often enter a wait-and-see period. This could result in:
While uncertainty may not necessarily lead to falling house prices, it can reduce market activity in the short-term while people assess the direction of future policy.
Andy Burnham has also said he wants “the biggest programme of council house building since the Second World War”.
In terms of how Andy Burnham’s potential policy on council housing would be paid for, he suggested this could be funded by diverting the existing £39bn affordable housing programme entirely to social rent homes.
If this does happen, it could have significant implications for affordable housing schemes such as shared ownership. Again, we await any further details of how this could be implemented.
At this stage, Andy Burnham’s potential policies remain proposals or broad ideas rather than firm commitments.
But if you own a home, are planning to buy, or are considering moving, you will naturally want to stay up to date with any proposed changes that could affect the cost of buying and owning a home.
We will update this page, as well as our pages on mortgage rate predictions and council tax.
However, while it’s understandable to be concerned about how things may change in the future, for homeowners and buyers, the most important thing is to focus on the decisions that suit your personal circumstances.
Paula Higgins, CEO of HomeOwners Alliance, said: “We’re keen to see what changes will come with a new Prime Minister and how they will help aspiring first time buyers, home movers and older homeowners achieve their housing needs.
Social housing, privately rented and privately owned homes all play their part in a healthy housing market. And a healthy housing market is good for the economy.”
“We’d love to see homeownership for first-time buyers treated as an equally important target alongside an increase in social housing.
“Our research found that for many young people today, homeownership has become an impossible dream. 1.9 million aspiring homeowners do not think they will follow in the footsteps of their home owning parents.
“We also know from our Scrap Stamp Duty Campaign that in its current format, stamp duty puts off families from moving up the property ladder, fleeces homeowners needing to make a sideways move and makes it more expensive for older generations to downsize. So we have our fingers crossed Andy Burnham can scrap the tax.
June 19, 2026
June 16, 2026
June 10, 2026
June 10, 2026 
