By Andrew Dixon, Founder and Chairman of Fairer Share
For more than three decades, governments on all sides of the political spectrum have known that Council Tax is broken. Yet reform has repeatedly been put in the “too difficult” box. The conventional political wisdom is easy to understand. Property taxes are visible, homes are people’s most valuable assets and reform inevitably creates winners and losers. Politicians therefore assume that even discussing fundamental reform risks provoking a backlash.
Our new polling suggests that assumption is wrong. Research conducted for Fairer Share by JL Partners finds that nearly two-thirds of Britons (63%) believe the current Council Tax system is unfair, while just 25% think it is fair.
This isn’t simply an abstract concern about tax design. Council Tax has become a cost-of-living issue. When people were asked which measures the government should prioritise to ease pressure on household finances, reducing or replacing Council Tax came second, selected by 34% of respondents and beaten only by reducing energy bills.
The public is more open to reform than Westminster thinks
Perhaps the most striking finding comes when people are presented with an actual alternative. We explained Fairer Share’s proposal to abolish Council Tax and Stamp Duty and replace them with an annual proportional tax based on current property values, with owners rather than tenants responsible for paying and protections for households with valuable homes but limited incomes.
47% supported it with only 13% saying they opposed it. That is almost four supporters for every opponent.
The polling also showed that there’s no evidence of the geographical backlash that is often assumed. Support is remarkably consistent across England and, perhaps surprisingly, is actually highest in London at 49%.
The political significance goes beyond the headline numbers. Of the relatively small group who oppose the proposal, only 14% say they do so because they prefer the existing Council Tax system. Their principal concerns are practical: whether their bills might rise, how high-value properties would be treated, whether valuations would be accurate and whether future governments could increase the tax rate.
In other words, the public isn’t saying “don’t touch Council Tax.” It is saying “show us how you would reform it safely.”
That is a very different political problem.
The political implications are particularly striking
Asked specifically about voting intention, the reform produces a net increase in willingness to consider voting Labour among Labour (+44), Green (+36), Liberal Democrat (+20) and Conservative (+15) voters, with Reform voters again largely unmoved (+5). The polling therefore suggests that engaging seriously with property tax reform need not carry the electoral penalty often assumed and could potentially help Labour consolidate its existing coalition while reaching voters beyond it.
Reform could help get Britain moving
There is also a danger that the debate becomes entirely about who pays more and who pays less. Property tax reform could deliver a much broader economic benefit.
Stamp Duty is a tax on moving home. It penalises a young family that needs more space, an older couple wanting to downsize and someone who needs to move across the country for a new job. Our polling shows just how acutely that barrier is felt. Among people currently buying a property, 68% said abolishing Stamp Duty would make purchasing a home easier. Among those thinking about buying, the figure was 65%.
Replacing Council Tax and Stamp Duty with a proportional annual property tax therefore isn’t simply about making taxation fairer. It would remove a major transaction tax, improve housing mobility, encourage better use of the homes we already have and make it easier for people to move to where economic opportunities exist.
At a time when the Government is searching for ways to increase economic growth, that deserves serious examination.
Caution is sensible. Inaction isn’t
The Prime Minister was right not to rush into fundamental property tax reform without understanding the consequences. Homes are people’s largest assets. Valuations need to be credible. Those who are asset-rich but cash-poor need protection. Changes should be phased so households aren’t confronted with sudden increases. And the consequences for local government finance and the housing market need to be properly understood. These are legitimate concerns.
But they are arguments for careful reform, not permanent inaction.
Indeed, our polling suggests that addressing those concerns is precisely how wider public support can be built. That is why Fairer Share is calling for an independent, evidence-led review of Council Tax and Stamp Duty.
Such a review should examine the available alternatives, their distributional consequences, the impact of abolishing Stamp Duty on housing and labour mobility, the valuation infrastructure required and the transitional protections necessary to ensure reform is fair. It need not commit the Government to Fairer Share’s solution, or any other, before the evidence has been examined.
But it would recognise something increasingly difficult to ignore: a tax based on property values from 1991 cannot remain untouched indefinitely. The most important message from our polling is that voters recognise the existing system is unfair, are open to a serious alternative and want politicians to engage with the problem.
For years, the political assumption has been that touching Council Tax is simply too dangerous. The evidence increasingly suggests that the greater political risk may be doing nothing at all.
If you agree, Email Your MP to call on them to back the proportional property tax here. It only takes 30 seconds with our online tool.