Rachel Reeves has asked officials at the Treasury to prepare options for a major overhaul of stamp duty land tax (SDLT).

The chancellor is mulling the idea of a national property tax to run alongside stamp duty. This property tax would not replace SDLT on owner-occupied homes, but would be a brand new tax on the sale of homes worth over £500,000, Treasury sources told The Guardian.  

SDLT is a major revenue earner for the Treasury, bringing in £13.88bn in the 2024-25 tax year, and this figure was up 20% in just one year from £11.61bn in 2023-24.

The majority of property sellers in London and the southeast would be dragged into the net of such a tax, with the average price of a property in London standing at £567,000 according to the UK House Price Index from the Land Registry. Even a flat in London costs on average £449,000, with a terraced property coming in at £638,000.