• The average council would benefit from a £34 million spending boon as households have more disposable income under proposed changes to Council Tax and Stamp Duty
• Labour MPs urge the government to launch a fundamental review of property taxes at the Budget
The Prime Minister has been urged to launch a fundamental review of property taxes at the Budget as new research reveals that replacing Council Tax and Stamp Duty with a Proportional Property Tax would deliver a £10.1bn boost to high streets across the country.
The analysis by campaign group, Fairer Share, estimates the additional annual spending that could result from a Proportional Property Tax. With over three quarters of households set to benefit from lower annual bills, it shows this could lead to people across the country spending more in their local high streets, handing a much-needed economic boost to cafes, restaurants and shops across England.
The findings reveal:
• The average council area could benefit by as much £34.3m a year in additional spending.
• The research also reveals over a third of the areas likely to benefit most – 17 of the top 50 – are places where Labour has lost political control in the five past years. They span from Reform-run County Durham to Green-run Bristol.
• Country Durham would benefit the most, with the average household saving £900 a year as a result of a fairer property tax system. Those savings are calculated to lead to a £211m boon in local spending.
• Others in the top 10 are Leeds (£170m) and Sheffield (£150m), which both saw Reform and Green surges last year and where Labour only governs through a minority administration and coalition respectively.
Fairer Share analysed available data for 295 English authorities, with 279 predicted to see net gains in spending as a result of the average household benefitting from a £566 saving due to lower property taxes under a Proportional Property Tax. Across England, the £10.1bn potential economic boost includes £2bn on housing and fuel costs, £1.3bn on transport, £1.2bn for food and non-alcoholic drinks, £1.2bn on recreation and culture, £680m additional spending on restaurants and hotels, £601m on household goods and services and £262m on clothing and
footwear, if tax savings were all spent in line with current UK household spending patterns.
The analysis also highlights how the reforms could boost VAT receipts from higher household spending. It estimates that the reforms could be associated with approximately £91m more a year in VAT from hotel and restaurant sales alone.
Andrew Dixon, founder of Fairer Share, said: “This research shows overhauling our unfair and uneven property tax system could hand struggling high streets nationwide a Burnham boost, hand hard-up households a lifeline in the middle of a cost-of-living squeeze – and help Labour’s electoral fortunes too.
“The Budget should be the moment the Government starts a serious, independent review of Council Tax and Stamp Duty – two punitive taxes no government would design today. We should be looking at how to replace them with a system that is fairer for households and better for local growth.”
The study comes after recent Fairer Share polling also found 36% of respondents say they would spend any savings on ‘energy and other bills’, and 40% highlighted ‘food and other essentials’.
The August poll found 63% of the public regard Council Tax as unfair, 52% worry about affording next year’s bills.
Labour MPs have backed the call for a fundamental review of property taxes. Earlier this summer, Jonathan Brash MP established the Fairer Council Tax Group, which will use a fringe event at the upcoming party conference to urge the government to create a fairer system.
Sam Rushworth, Labour MP for Bishop Auckland, said: “It cannot be right that people in Bishop Auckland and County Durham in a Band D property pay nearly £1000 a year more in Council Tax than someone living in a band D home in Kensington & Chelsea, yet they get less for it.
“Both residents and businesses stand to benefit from scrapping Council Tax and replacing it with a fairer, more proportional property tax.”
Paula Barker, Labour MP for Liverpool Wavertree, said: “Liverpool’s residents and businesses both would gain from reforming Council Tax. I am backing the campaign for a Proportional Property Tax to put money back in people’s pockets and tackle this unacceptable injustice.”
Blackpool’s Labour MPs Chris Webb and Lorraine Beavers said in a joint statement Council Tax was “punitive and unfair”, adding: “We support the campaign for a Proportional Property Tax to put money back in people’s pockets and deliver for the working people of Blackpool.”
Fairer Share’s petition for a review this summer reached 100,000 signatures, meaning MPs will likely debate it. The government was already considering reform proposals shortly before Andy Burnham became Prime Minister. He has repeatedly endorsed property tax reform, including Council Tax and Stamp Duty.
Notes to editors
Methodological note: The analysis estimates additional annual spending that could result from a Proportional Property Tax. It uses Fairer Share’s modelled average household gains from reform, based on 2020 data, and recent ONS household counts and local income profiles. The resulting spending uplift is allocated across categories using national-level ONS Family Spending data on household spending patterns.
The model assumes full household gains are spent. Polling referenced was a representative online poll of 2,048 UK adults, conducted 1st-4th August 2026 by JL Partners, a member of the British Polling Council.
For media queries, interview or op-ed requests: Contact fairershare@pagefield.com.
Founder Andrew Dixon appears regularly in the media, and can be available for interviews, quotes or op-eds. The Fairer Share website has many resources. For urgent queries, contact Tom Belger on 07964 421 759 or Tom Wilson on 07794 014 371.