Stamp Duty & Mansion Tax: What the New Prime Minister Means for Local Homeowners

In the run-up to the school summer holidays, we had the resignation of Sir Keir Starmer and the appointment of Andy Burnham on 20th July.  Andy Burnham has previously argued the case for reforming property taxation, so his appointment naturally created speculation on forthcoming changes, which unsurprisingly created hesitation in the market.    

However, in his first interview as PM, he has now ruled out scrapping council tax and stamp duty or replacing them with a single property tax at this stage.  Stamp duty will not be reformed in this year’s Budget – although he has indicated that he still wants to make taxation fairer**.

There’s also speculation that he is going to lower the property value threshold at which the ‘mansion tax’ is payable, from £2 million to £1.5 million. As yet, this hasn’t been confirmed or denied.  

Until then, affordability remains an underlying factor affecting property transaction numbers, especially in our part of Surrey, where average house prices are traditionally higher than the UK benchmark.  Instability in the mortgage market, and political unrest, all continue to create apprehension in the market.  While UK house prices continue to rise, growth has slowed to *1.3% and local markets are becoming increasingly polarised.

As reported by Zoopla, the number of homes available for sale has increased across much of the country; this gives buyers more choice and greater confidence.  We see this in the length of time buyers are taking to make decisions, which of late has been laboured.  

Acting on real-time feedback is of paramount importance if homeowners are serious about selling.  *Almost a third of homes listed since Q2 remain unsold without a price reduction, highlighting the value of local market insight when creating a pricing strategy.  National headlines continue to conceal what is happening in local markets.  This year has seen a widening gap between the North and South, again reinforcing the need for local intelligence.  

We anticipate buyer activity to improve after the summer holiday period, if mortgage rates remain constant.  Never has the conversation around realistic pricing been so important.  Houses continue to sell in slower markets, and so long as seller expectations and buyer demand are aligned, we anticipate the usual September bounce.  

For any house selling or buying advice, contact any one of our offices; we are here to help. 

*Zoopla July House Price Index 
https://business.zoopla.co.uk/zoopla-house-price-index?utm_source=zoopla&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=customer_localised_hpi_july_20260730
**https://hoa.org.uk/news/andy-burnhams-potential-policies/