Council tax, or a 0.48% property tax?

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

• 0.48% a year on current value. A £300,000 home pays £1,440; a £500,000 home pays £2,400; a £1m home pays £4,800.
• Stamp duty scrapped on main homes. You'd no longer pay a large one-off tax when you buy your home — a separate saving on top of the annual comparison.
• Second homes pay double — 0.96%. The same higher rate applies to long-term empty properties and homes owned by non-residents. Stamp duty would be kept for those buyers.
• A £1,200 transitional cap. Existing owners couldn't see their bill jump by more than £1,200 a year above their current council tax during the transition; the cap lifts when the property is next sold.
• Deferral for pensioners. Asset-rich but cash-poor owners could defer paying until the home is eventually sold, so nobody is forced out by a paper valuation.

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, the North and Wales 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. There were no confirmed plans to replace council tax or stamp duty at the 2026 Autumn Budget, and 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.