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Stamp Duty Reform? What Rachel Reeves’ Review Could Mean for Homeowners in Swindon

21 August 2025

News has emerged that Chancellor Rachel Reeves has asked Treasury officials to review the way Britons are taxed when it comes to property, from council tax to stamp duty.

Whilst no firm announcements have yet been made, reports suggest that Reeves’ Treasury team is weighing up reforms that could change the way we all buy, sell, and own homes in the future.

Early signals suggest that higher-value homes could be the main focus. Reports indicate properties over £500,000 may face additional taxes, with speculation that we will either see new council tax bands or even see council tax replaced with a new property tax altogether – along with a total overhaul of stamp duty.

 

Why Are We Talking About New Property Tax Now?

Property taxes are a big earner for any British government. The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) expects stamp duty alone to raise £15.7 billion this year, climbing to £26.5 billion by 2030.

Council tax revenues are forecast to bring in another £50 billion annually.

But at the same time, economists including those at the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) (and, indeed, many estate agents!) have long argued that stamp duty is an inefficient tax.

They call it one of Britain’s “worst and most damaging” levies because of the way that it discourages people from moving – and in many ways, when people are restricted from moving home, the economy takes a hit. This is because people move less frequently for new jobs, which reduces potential corporation tax and income tax revenues.

Even without job moves in the equation, a growing family might wish they could upsize, or an older owner with children now living away may wish they could downsize, but the extra cost that stamp duty brings often means that potential movers worry they can’t afford to get what they really want – and so instead, they stay put.

The result? Fewer homes come to market, and the economy as a whole suffers from reduced mobility as a result.

 

What Could Change?

The options under review reportedly include:

  • Reforming or scrapping stamp duty: Replacing it with a different kind of tax that doesn’t discourage moving.
  • New council tax bands (or none at all?): Updating the current system, still based on 1991 property values, so that higher-value homes pay more – or reimagining council tax altogether with a new system.
  • A recurring property tax: An annual levy on homes above a certain value, replacing stamp duty and possibly council tax.

Officials have stressed that any reforms would need to “protect revenue”. In other words, if stamp duty were reduced or abolished, the lost money would have to be made up elsewhere – in other words, we will be likely to see higher charges on more expensive properties, so that ‘those with the broadest shoulders’ carry the burden.

 

Why This Matters to the Swindon Property Market

For homeowners and buyers, the way property is taxed can significantly affect affordability and behaviour:

  • First-time buyers may find it easier to step onto the ladder if stamp duty is reduced or even removed, something that most would welcome.
  • Movers could face lower or perhaps zero upfront costs, making it much easier to relocate for work, family, or lifestyle reasons.
  • Owners of higher-value homes may see higher ongoing bills if new council tax bands or annual property taxes are introduced.

For the housing market as a whole, reform could mean more mobility and a greater flow of homes being listed, helping to ease supply shortages in many areas.

Equally though, it could really rebalance the nature of the UK property market as a whole, with many average homes and average households in the south-east facing disproportionately heavy bills to prop up municipal costs in less property-valuable areas of the country.

And that sort of imbalance is never healthy in the long term.


 

The Political Balance

Changing property tax is never straightforward. Margaret Thatcher’s government famously ran into trouble over the “poll tax” in the 1990s, which led to widespread protests. Similarly, Scotland has looked at land value taxes but, in the end, only pushed ahead with a reformed version of council tax.

This is why, for the time being, even though Ms Reeves has asked her officials to look at the options, we should not expect overnight changes.

Introducing new council tax bands alone could take well over a year because of the time it would take the Valuation Office Agency to reassess homes – especially as it goes through the process of being absorbed more fully into HMRC.

 

The Swindon Property Market In Focus

The impact of any reform will vary dramatically depending on where people live and the types of homes in their area. According to Hamptons, half of all English homes that sell for more than £500,000 are in London, with another 26% in the South East. That means homeowners in those regions would be disproportionately affected by any new taxes on higher-value homes – and accordingly, places like Swindon and elsewhere in the country might feel some relief.

This is how things shape up locally:

The average house price in Swindon is £259,000 according to Office for National Statistics (ONS) Data. If these reforms focus on targeting properties valued over £500,000, it would affect around 13% of properties in Swindon. This is based on the 788 properties sold at £500,000 or above during the past 12 month, out of a total of 6,109 property sales here altogether (from property data site PlumPlot) – 12.8% of all sales.

By contrast, head just over half an hour away to Oxford, where the average value is £477,000 according to the ONS, and you can see how other parts of the country are likely to shoulder a greater burden.

In fact, in Oxford, there were around 2,100 sales at £500,000 or above during 2024, out of a total of 7,500 sales that year. That is almost 30% of property transactions being in excess of half a million pounds – a stark contrast to our 10%.

Good news, on the face of it maybe, for a place like Swindon – and we might rub our hands with glee...

But the reality is, with much of the country to the southeast of us at risk of being negatively affected, I’m not so sure we can trust this to pan out the way that news outlets have currently framed things. My suspicion is – unfortunately – that we need to wait and see what more develops from this conversation.

 

Final Thoughts

For now, nothing is set in stone. The Chancellor is under pressure to balance the books and stimulate growth, and property tax is a tempting lever to pull.

But reforms of this scale are complicated, politically sensitive, and take time to implement.

What’s certain is that homeowners, buyers, sellers and, not least, we ourselves at The House Group, will all be watching closely.

If changes are announced in the next Budget – and my suspicion is that it may be a little too soon to expect a wholesale change of such a nature, but, we’ll see – they could reshape how we think about the cost of moving and the responsibilities of ownership.

For anyone considering a move, our message right now is: stay informed, keep an eye on developments, and take advice when the time comes. Stay tuned to our blog and our social media for further updates, and if you’d like to talk more, please do give us a call.

 

Frequently Asked Questions

Will stamp duty be scrapped in 2025?
At this stage, it seems unlikely, with the Budget only two months away – but not impossible. The Chancellor has asked Treasury officials to review how property is taxed, and scrapping or reforming stamp duty is one of the options on the table. But nothing has been announced yet, and any major changes would likely take time to implement. For now, buyers should certainly expect the current stamp duty system to remain in place until further details are confirmed in the Budget – and even if announced, the lead time for implementation is likely to be months away.

How would property tax reform affect homeowners in Swindon?
If reforms target higher-value homes, London and the South-East could be disproportionately affected, whilst other parts of the country, including Swindon, could feel a sense of tax relief. Only around 24% of properties in England worth over £500,000 are found outside of London and the South-East, so any new recurring property taxes on more expensive properties would fall more heavily on London and South-East households. In practical terms, if stamp duty is scrapped, yes it could mean lower upfront costs when buying in Swindon, but it may mean higher annual bills for homeowners in London to balance the books – which might push some homeowners there to sell up and look for properties in areas like Swindon that fall below the £500,000 threshold whilst offering easy access into London. Nevertheless, it is unlikely to lead to a mass exodus of London and South-East residents to lower value parts of the country.