What an Andy Burnham Government Could Mean If You Are Buying a Home

If you are thinking about buying a home, or simply trying to work out when the time is right to move, politics might feel like the last thing on your mind. 

Yet the policies a future government chooses can change the cost of buying, the type of home you end up owning, and even how easy it is to move again later. 

Andy Burnham, the Mayor of Greater Manchester, is often talked about as a future Prime Minister, and over the years he has set out clear views on housing, property tax, and leasehold. 

Here is what those ideas could mean for you as a buyer, explained in plain terms.

The cost of buying could change

The biggest idea Burnham has backed is a complete rethink of how we tax property. At the moment, most buyers pay stamp duty when they purchase a home. It is a one off charge, paid on completion, and it can run into thousands or tens of thousands of pounds depending on the price of the property. For many people it is one of the largest single costs of moving.

Burnham has argued that this system is unfair, and he is reported to favour replacing stamp duty, and council tax, with a single annual property tax of around 0.48 per cent of a home's value. On a £300,000 home that would work out at roughly £1,440 a year, paid in instalments rather than as one large bill at purchase.

For a buyer, the appeal is obvious. Removing stamp duty would cut the upfront cost of buying, which is often the hardest money to find because it cannot be added to your mortgage. That could make buying more achievable, especially for people stretching to afford their first home or moving up the ladder. The trade off is that you would then pay an annual charge for as long as you own the home, so the saving at purchase is balanced by an ongoing cost over time. Whether you come out ahead depends on how long you stay and the value of your home.

It is worth being realistic. No detailed plan has been published, and reforming property tax is politically difficult, so this remains an idea rather than a firm proposal. However, if it did happen, it could make moving home cheaper at the point of purchase and encourage more people to buy and sell, which tends to mean a more active market with more choice.

The type of home you buy could change

If you are buying a flat, you have probably come across the word leasehold. Under leasehold you own your home for a fixed number of years but not the land it sits on, and you usually pay ground rent and service charges to a freeholder. Many buyers have found leasehold frustrating, with rising charges and expensive lease extensions.

Burnham has supported ending the sale of new leasehold homes and strengthening protections for people who already own one. This matches the direction the country is already heading. A new law is making its way through Parliament that would cap ground rents, remove some of the harsher powers freeholders hold, and make a system called commonhold the normal way to own a new flat.

Commonhold means you own your flat outright and share ownership and management of the building with the other residents, rather than answering to a separate freeholder. For buyers, this could mean fewer nasty surprises with ground rent and service charges, and more control over how your building is run. If you are buying a new flat in the coming years, you are more likely to be buying commonhold than leasehold, so it is worth understanding the difference and asking your conveyancer to explain it clearly.

Renting and the wider market

Burnham also favours stronger protections for people who rent, building on recent changes that have already ended no fault evictions. This matters even if you are buying rather than renting, because it affects the wider market. If owning a rental property becomes less attractive to investors, there may be fewer landlords competing with first time buyers for the same homes, which some buyers would welcome. At the same time, Burnham has placed a strong emphasis on building more affordable and social housing, which over time could increase the supply of homes available.

What this means for you

None of this is settled. Burnham is not in government, and the ideas described here range from firm legal changes already underway to proposals that may never happen. So there is no need to rush a decision or delay your plans based on speculation.

What you can take from it is a sense of the direction. The way we own flats is shifting away from leasehold, renters are gaining more protection, and there is a serious national debate about making it cheaper to buy and move. If you are buying now, the most useful things you can do are simple. Understand exactly what tenure you are buying, whether leasehold, commonhold, or freehold, and what charges come with it. Budget carefully for the costs of buying as they stand today, including stamp duty, rather than assuming any change and lean on a good conveyancer who can explain how the rules apply to your specific purchase, because the law in this area is changing and clear advice is worth a great deal.

A future Burnham government would not transform home buying overnight. What it might do is make moving a little cheaper at the outset, give flat owners a fairer deal, and tilt the market in ways that, for many ordinary buyers, could be a welcome change.

---

This article is general information for home buyers and does not constitute legal, tax, or financial advice. The policy positions described are based on public statements and proposals current as at June 2026 and remain subject to change. Always seek advice tailored to your own purchase.