Burnham rules out stamp duty overhaul

Andy Burnham won the Labour leadership arguing it was unfair that a homeowner in Manchester pays more council tax than a mansion owner in Wandsworth. One week into the job, and he's rejected calls to reform council tax and stamp duty. Either that conviction was real and folded the moment the Treasury got involved, or it was never a conviction at all, just a useful line to win a leadership contest. The finances behind this were dire before he took office so nothing has changed there, which tells you the fairness argument was always going to lose to the Budget timetable. With a receptive backbench and a live petition forcing a Commons debate, this was the moment to spend some political capital on reform. Instead, homeowners on outdated 1991 valuations are left exactly where they started.

Fast U-turn, yes, and quicker than the U-turns we got used to under Starmer's government, so credit for pace at least. But let's be clear about what's actually happened here: at the first whiff of political heat, Burnham's government has bottled it. Stamp duty is an outdated, growth-choking tax that punishes people for moving house, and everyone in Westminster knows it. The truth is, no political party seems willing to take on serious reform of the housing market, welfare, or how we raise tax in this country, everyone's too scared of the backlash. What we actually need is someone with the bottle to tackle these things properly, the way Thatcher did, the way Blair did. You don't have to agree with everything either of them did, but they were prepared to take on the fights that needed taking on. This U-turn is the opposite of that instinct, and it's exactly why the UK has been stuck in a rut for the last 15 years.

The biggest problem isn't whether stamp duty changes or stays the same – it's uncertainty. Every time speculation starts, buyers pause, sellers hesitate and transactions slow down.

As a mortgage broker, I see first-hand that affordability, higher borrowing costs and a lack of suitable housing are the biggest barriers preventing people from moving. Stamp duty is part of the conversation, but it isn't the only issue.

What the housing market really needs is stability. Whether reform happens or not, buyers, sellers and lenders all benefit from a clear, long-term strategy that gives people the confidence to make decisions, rather than constant speculation over what might happen next.

This feels like a missed opportunity. Stamp duty doesn’t just raise revenue, it changes behaviour. Every time someone decides not to move because of the tax bill, the housing market loses a transaction. The question isn’t whether government should raise tax, it’s whether taxing people for moving home is the best way of doing it.

Another brilliant display of "brave leadership", running away from fixing a tax system that’s been stuck in 1991.
On paper, getting rid of stamp duty and council tax to build a fairer system makes total sense. It would help people move easily and make sure rich homeowners pay their fair share. But Heaven forbid we upset wealthy voters down South who might lose a few pounds.
Instead, fear and empty pockets win again. It's a huge missed chance, showing that big promises will always fold the second real life gets a bit tricky.

Stamp duty needs reform, and it is frustrating to be back to a tax almost everyone agrees is broken with no plan to fix it. It taxes the act of moving, which discourages people from downsizing, upsizing or relocating for work, and it gums up the whole chain. The proposal that has just been dropped had real flaws, and I said as much at the time, but ruling out reform altogether is not the answer. The bigger damage is the pattern. Floating a major tax change in the media and then reversing it days later freezes the market. No one buys today and pays thousands in stamp duty if they suspect the tax could be gone in a few weeks. Successive governments have leaked policy ahead of budgets this way, and each time it pauses transactions while buyers wait to see what is coming. Reform should be worked through and announced in the Budget, not trailed in the press and pulled. For people trying to decide right now, certainty matters as much as the policy itself.