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Council tax, or a 0.48% property tax?

The proposal backed by Andy Burnham and the Fairer Share campaign would scrap council tax and stamp duty on your home and charge 0.48% of its current value every year instead. Put your numbers in and see the honest answer for your household, in pounds and pence: would you pay more, or less?

Models the 0.48% proposal · A proposal, not current law · How it works ↓
This models a proposal, not the law. Council tax and stamp duty still apply today. Use it to see what the 0.48% plan would mean for you.
Roughly what it would sell for today — the tax is a % of current value, not your 1991 council-tax band.
Council tax is devolved — the bands, the multipliers and the average bills are all different across the UK.
Most people don’t know their bill off the top of their head, but everyone knows their band — it’s on your bill and on the gov.uk band checker. Pick one and we’ll fill in the England average for it.
England average for a Band D home, 2026/27. Type your own figure to override — your bill is on your council’s annual statement.
Your main residence is charged at 0.48%. Second homes, long-term empty homes and non-resident-owned homes are charged at double.
Proposed property tax
£1,680/ year · 0.48% of £350,000
Proposed tax
£1,680
£140 / month
Council tax now
£2,392
£199 / month

The working

Home value£350,000
× proposed rate0.48%
Proposed annual tax£1,680

0.48% of your home’s value, worked out

0.48% of £300,000 is £1,440 a year — £120 a month. That’s the whole sum: the proposal charges 0.48% of what your home is worth today, every year, in place of council tax. Here it is at the values people ask about most.

None of this is policy yet. Whether any of it moves is a question for the Autumn Budget on 28 October 2026 — I keep a running note there of what’s confirmed, what’s on the table, and what looks unlikely to shift.

Home value0.48% a yearPer monthvs Band D council tax

Second homes, long-term empty homes and non-resident owners pay 0.96% — double every figure above. The comparison column follows the nation you pick above — use the calculator for your own band. Tap any row to load it.

Why this calculator

Your bill, not a headline

National averages hide who actually wins and loses. This runs the 0.48% on your home against your council tax, so the answer is personal.

Built on the real proposal

0.48% on current value, 0.96% on second homes, the £1,200 transitional cap, stamp duty scrapped on main homes — the figures campaigners actually published.

Shows your break-even

It tells you the exact home value where the new tax would match your current bill — so you can see how far either side of the line you sit.

See it across your whole financial picture

A change to your biggest annual bill ripples through everything. WealthR tracks your net worth, forecasts and tax in one place.

Try WealthR free →

The 0.48% proportional property tax, explained

In the summer of 2026, Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham put a long-running campaigner idea back on the front pages: scrap council tax and, for main homes, stamp duty, and replace them with a single annual charge of 0.48% of a property's current market value. The idea has been pushed for years by the Fairer Share campaign; 0.48% is the rate they calculate would raise roughly the same money as the two taxes it replaces.

The appeal is simple to state. Council tax is still based on 1991 property valuations and a set of A–H bands that have never been revalued in England. That makes it sharply regressive: a modest home can pay a higher percentage of its value than a mansion. A charge tied to what a home is worth today would, supporters argue, be fairer and more transparent.

How the numbers work

Who wins and who loses

Because the charge follows current value, the map of winners and losers is really a map of house prices. The Fairer Share campaign estimates roughly 77% of households would pay less. Broadly, lower-value homes and much of the Midlands and the North tend to gain, while high-value properties concentrated in London and the South East tend to pay more. As one illustration, the Centre for London estimated a £600,000 London home would pay about £812 a year more than a typical Band D council-tax bill. Your own result comes down to one number: your break-even value — your current bill divided by 0.48%. On the England average Band D bill of £2,392, that break-even is about £498,000.

Is it actually going to happen?

Not yet — and it may not at all. This is a proposal under debate, not government policy. No government has adopted it; the next opportunity is the Autumn Budget on 28 October 2026. Any real reform would involve a nationwide revaluation, primary legislation, and years of transition. Treat every figure here as an illustration of what the proposal would mean for you — useful for understanding the debate and your own exposure, not a forecast of next year's bill. We track where this proposal goes next on WealthR Live.

Common questions

Does this work for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland?
The calculator covers all four, but they aren’t the same. England and Scotland both have eight bands valued at 1 April 1991 — though Scotland raised its Band E–H multipliers in 2017, so higher-band Scottish homes pay proportionally more than the equivalent English ones. Wales revalued in 2003 and has nine bands, A–I. Northern Ireland has no council tax at all — it uses domestic rates based on 2005 capital value, which is already a proportional property tax of the kind this page is about.

Two things worth being straight about: the 0.48% plan is an England proposal, because council tax is devolved. And it scraps stamp duty, which doesn’t exist in Scotland (Land and Buildings Transaction Tax) or Wales (Land Transaction Tax). For those nations, treat this as “what it would look like if applied here”.
Why is my Scottish bill higher than the figure shown?
Scottish council tax bills also collect water and sewerage charges on behalf of Scottish Water. Those aren’t council tax, and they aren’t included in the band averages here — so your actual bill will be higher than the figure this calculator starts with. A property tax replacing council tax wouldn’t remove them either. If you want an exact comparison, type your council tax figure only, excluding the water charges.
What is 0.48% of £300,000?
£1,440 a year — £120 a month. The sum is 300,000 × 0.0048. For other values: £200,000 is £960 a year, £250,000 is £1,200, £400,000 is £1,920 and £500,000 is £2,400. Second homes, long-term empty homes and non-resident owners pay double, so £300,000 would be £2,880. Whether that's more or less than you pay now depends on your council tax band — the calculator above compares the two.
How do I find my council tax band?
It's printed on your annual council tax bill, and you can look any address up free on the gov.uk band checker. Bands are set as fixed fractions of Band D — A is six-ninths, H is eighteen-ninths — so picking your band gives a close estimate of your bill even if you don't know the exact figure. Your council sets the actual amount, so type it in if you have it to hand.
What is the proportional property tax?
A proposed annual charge of 0.48% of a property's current market value, designed to replace council tax and — for main homes — stamp duty. It's championed by the Fairer Share campaign and, in 2026, by Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham. Because it's based on what a home is worth today rather than its 1991 council-tax band, supporters argue it's fairer. It is a proposal, not law.
Where does the 0.48% figure come from?
It's the rate campaigners calculate would raise roughly the same total as council tax plus stamp duty on main homes. It's applied to the property's current value, every year — so a £500,000 home would pay £2,400 a year.
Would it really replace stamp duty?
For main homes, yes — you'd no longer pay stamp duty when buying your main residence. Stamp duty would stay for second homes and non-resident buyers. This calculator compares the annual charge against council tax; the stamp-duty saving on a future purchase would be an extra benefit on top.
Who pays more and who pays less?
Campaigners estimate roughly 77% of households would pay less. Because the charge tracks current value, lower-value homes and much of the Midlands and the North tend to gain, while high-value properties — concentrated in London and the South East — tend to pay more. As an illustration, the Centre for London estimated a £600,000 London home would pay around £812 a year more than a typical Band D council-tax bill.
What is my break-even property value?
It's the home value at which the 0.48% charge exactly equals your current council tax — your current bill divided by 0.48%. Below that value you would pay less than today; above it, more. On the England average Band D bill of £2,392, the break-even is about £498,000.
How are second homes treated?
Second homes, long-term empty properties and homes owned by non-residents would be charged at 0.96% — exactly double the standard rate. Pick "Second / empty / non-resident" in the calculator to apply it.
What if my bill would go up a lot?
The proposal caps increases at £1,200 a year above your current council tax during the transition, with the cap lifting when you next sell. There's also a deferral option so asset-rich, cash-poor pensioners could postpone payment until the home is sold. The calculator flags when the £1,200 cap would apply to you.
Is this government policy?
No. It's a proposal being debated, not law. No government has adopted it; the next opportunity is the Autumn Budget on 28 October 2026. Every figure here is an illustration of the proposal, not a forecast of your future bill. For the fuller argument, read our breakdown: Council tax vs a 0.48% property tax — who wins, who loses.

Read the full breakdown

Our explainer walks through the winners and losers by region, the second-home rules, and how it stacks up against the council tax you pay today.

Read the guide →