Scrap stamp duty and council tax to fix London housing crisis, thinktank says

Stamp duty should be replaced with a new annual property wealth tax to address London’s housing crisis. The proposal would replace the levy paid when buying a property and council tax with a partly devolved annual proportional property tax calculated as a percentage of home value. The tax would encourage downsizing and raise funds for social and affordable housing, potentially paying for 106,000 homes over the next decade. The plan targets larger properties in the most expensive areas with higher tax bills. Research links worsening inequality to growing disparities in space, with higher-income owner-occupiers gaining far more floor space than lower-income households. Housing unaffordability is associated with homelessness, temporary accommodation, high price-to-earnings ratios, and child poverty after housing costs.

"The paper outlines radical reforms, including scrapping stamp duty and council tax and replacing them with a partly devolved annual proportional property tax (PPT) that could pay for 106,000 social and affordable homes over the next decade. Homeowners with the largest properties in the most expensive areas would pay the most tax under the proposed system. PPT would be calculated as a percentage of the value of the home."

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