Labour’s progressive property tax explained
Party proposes replacing council tax with new levy paid by landlords rather than tenants

Labour is considering replacing council tax with a new “progressive” property tax that would be set nationally and paid by property owners rather than tenants.
The proposals are part of a raft of policy recommendations in a Labour-commissioned report on land use. The aim is to reduce the tax paid by the majority of households and discourage the use of homes as financial assets.
The report - written by a group of academics, economists and land experts and titled Land For The Many - calls on the party to make a string of “radical but practical changes in the way land in the UK is used and governed” if it wins the next election.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
“We recommend that a Labour government replace the regressive and unpopular council tax with a progressive property tax based on contemporary property values,” it says. “Unlike council tax, this tax would be payable by owners, not tenants. This would result in significant administrative savings, lower levels of arrears and less court action”, the authors say.
The market value of land in the UK is believed to have quadrupled over the past two decades, contributing to a rise in house prices. A recent study of 14 advanced economies found that an estimated 81% of house price increases between 1950 and 2012 were down to rising land prices.
As well as introducing a progressive property tax, the report calls for the valuation of properties for tax purposes to be updated annually. It also argues that empty homes and second homes should automatically be taxed at a higher rate.
In addition, Labour is considering introducing “compulsory sale orders” giving public authorities the right to seize land left vacant or derelict and to sell it at auction, says The Times.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
The new report also suggests abolishing the Stamp Duty Land Tax for people buying homes they intend to live in; abolishing inheritance tax; and the introduction of a lifetime gifts tax levied on the recipient.
“Dig deep enough into many of the problems this country faces, and you will soon hit land,” writes George Monbiot, one of the report authors, in The Guardian.
“Since 1995, land values in this country have risen by 412%. Land now accounts for an astonishing 51% of the UK’s net worth. Why? In large part because successive governments have used tax exemptions and other advantages to turn the ground beneath our feet into a speculative money machine,” he says.
Labour’s shadow Cabinet Office minister Jon Trickett said his party would be “studying these recommendations in detail”.
He added: “So much of this can be traced back to the broken system of land ownership. Concentration of land in the hands of a few has led to unwanted developments, unaffordable house prices, financial crises and environmental degradation.”
But not everyone is convinced. “This is confirmation that Labour would bring the policies of Venezuela to Britain,” Tory MP Priti Patel told the Daily Mail.
Housing Secretary James Brokenshire describing them as a “tax bombshell”. He said: “These proposals are extraordinary and deeply damaging in equal measure. Labour will stop at nothing to hammer families with more tax and make home ownership a pipe dream for future generations.
“Plans to seize land into public ownership also show Labour’s true colours of more and more state control.”
-
Job hugging: the growing trend of clinging to your job
In the Spotlight People are staying in their jobs longer than ever
-
NASA reveals ‘clearest sign of life’ on Mars yet
Speed Read The evidence came in the form of a rock sample collected on the planet
-
Former top FBI agents sue, claiming Trump purge
Speed Read The agents alleged they were targeted by a “campaign of retribution”
-
The runners and riders for the Labour deputy leadership
The Explainer Race to replace Angela Rayner likely to come down to Starmer loyalist vs. soft-left MP supported by backbenchers and unions
-
How should Keir Starmer right the Labour ship?
Today's Big Question Rightward shift on immigration and welfare not the answer to 'haemorrhaging of hope, trust and electoral support'
-
'Three Pads' Rayner: a housing hypocrite?
Talking Point As real estate moguls go, the Deputy PM is 'hardly Donald Trump'
-
Who will win the battle for the soul of the Green Party?
An ideological divide is taking root among the environmentalists
-
Are we facing a summer of riots?
Today's Big Question Anti-immigrant unrest in Essex has sparked fears of a summer of disorder
-
Who stands to gain – and lose – from 16-year-old voters?
Today's Big Question Many assume Labour will benefit but move could 'backfire' if Greens, a new hard-left party or Reform continue to pick up momentum
-
What difference will the 'historic' UK-Germany treaty make?
Today's Big Question Europe's two biggest economies sign first treaty since WWII, underscoring 'triangle alliance' with France amid growing Russian threat and US distance
-
Mortgage reform: is Rachel Reeves betting the house on City rules shake-up?
Today's Big Question Reforms could create up to 36,000 additional mortgages next year