Council Tax And Stamp Duty Reform Petition Gains Pace

A slow-burning petition challenging the government to reform council tax and stamp duty has attracted almost 6,000 supporters.

Launched by Telford estate agent Andrew Nixon, the petition runs on a government website until July 2026.

"We call on the government to commission a full, independent review of Council Tax and Stamp Duty to deliver the fundamental, evidence-based reform the UK's housing market urgently needs," says the petition.

"We believe Council Tax arrears have risen to £8.3 billion, with more than two million households struggling to keep up. We believe a tax based on 1990s property values no longer reflects today's homes or people's ability to pay -- and it fails to provide a stable way to fund essential local services.

"We believe stamp duty remains a narrow, one-off tax that distorts the housing market and traps families in unsuitable homes."

Parliament's open landlord and property petitions

Read on for links to open petitions before Parliament highlighted for landlords, property professionals and renters:

• Require faster eviction process, and improve protections for private landlords 15,534 signatures
• Abolish ground rent for existing residential leasehold properties 15,205 signatures
• Commission a full independent review of council tax and stamp duty 5,729 signatures
• Allow mortgage interest to be deducted when calculating taxable rental income. 1,600 signatures
• Ban family houses from being converted into houses of multiple occupancy (HMOs) 639 signatures
• Childless to be eligible for residence nil rate band for Inheritance Tax 635 signatures
• Give leaseholders a right to force a buy-back after serious mismanagement 349 signatures
• Amend the home buying process in England to align with Scotland 209 signatures
• Require property management companies to publish management annual accounts 181 signatures
• Cap service charges and require publication of how they are calculated and spent 126 signatures
• Government to commit to 654,000+ new homes a year in England for 10 Years 96 signatures
• Ban members of parliament from being residential landlords 94 signatures
• Review rules regarding buyers who pull out of a chain 87 signatures
• Require sellers to complete surveys and probate before marketing their property 66 signatures
• Reform tax rules so rental income is taxed on profit, not revenue 78 signatures
• Implement a rent cap on private rents matching the Local Housing Allowance to reduce overcrowding 56 signatures
• Require landlords to sell vacant properties to house homeless and refugees 46 signatures
• New regulations mandatory landlord checks and invest in more social housing 42 signatures
• Unfreeze Local Housing Allowance and uprate by rent cost increases each year 41 signatures
• Sellers who take house off the market to be liable to repay expenses of buyer 40 signatures
• Increase the Local Housing Allowance and freeze private rents 36 signatures
• Review private rented homes run by social landlords and require fair redress 36 signatures
• Make Japanese Knotweed surveys mandatory when selling property 26 signatures
• Introduce clear statutory rules and guidance on rent abatement 25 signatures
• Ban estate agents from soliciting buyers to bid more on an offer 23 signatures
• Stop limited companies offsetting loan interest or other expenses for rental income 20 signatures
• Introduce regulation limiting estate agent contracts to a maximum of 28 days 19 signatures
• Make it law that every inhabited property must have a working smoke detector 17 signatures
• Allow small roof ridge increases for attic conversions in terraced houses 11 signatures

Petitions collecting 10,000 signatures receive a formal government-written response, while petitions gathering more than 100,000 signatures are considered for debate in Parliament.

Parliament keeps petitions open for six months.