The Great British Wealth Windfall: Is Now The Time To Reform Property Taxation?

9th January 2022

From The Resolution Foundation.

House prices across the UK have rocketed over recent decades, and have continued to surge even when the rest of the economy collapsed during the Covid crisis. This has delivered a huge wealth windfall, that far from being shared equally has gone to existing asset owners. This windfall has also largely slipped past the tax system, which focuses instead on taxing transactions and residents through Stamp Duty and Council Tax.

What is the scale and distribution of the UK's property wealth windfall? Should we shift the focus of property taxation towards capital gains rather than transactions? If so, how? Is there any public appetite for reforming our highly flawed approach to wealth taxes, and how can support for change be built on?