Rachel Reeves’ decision to review the UK’s broken property tax system is the boldest move by a Chancellor in years. For too long, politicians have known that council tax and stamp duty are outdated, regressive and damaging to the economy — but reform has been ducked. Now there is a chance to fix it.

Council tax is based on 1991 property valuations, making it absurdly unfair. A family in a modest Hartlepool terrace can pay more, as a share of their home’s value, than a millionaire in Chelsea. It is no wonder many now see council tax as a new poll tax. Meanwhile, stamp duty penalises people for moving — whether to take a new job, downsize in retirement or find a family home. It locks up housing supply, reduces labour mobility, and depresses growth.

At Fairer Share, we have long argued that these taxes should be scrapped and replaced with a simple, transparent Proportional Property Tax. Homeowners would pay a fixed percentage of their property’s value each year. Those in lower-value homes would pay less, those in higher-value homes would pay more. Revenue would be collected fairly across the lifetime of ownership, not in lumpy, distortionary hits at the beginning with stamp duty or at the end with capital gains tax.

This isn’t just our idea. Tim Leunig, a respected economist and former government adviser, laid out the case in a detailed paper for the think tank Onward. His work shows that reform is not only fair and economically sound, but also deliverable.

The political temptation will be to tinker — perhaps by adding a few new council tax bands or floating a so-called “mansion tax.” But that risks repeating the mistakes of the past: policies that sound tough but achieve little, while storing up further distortions. We shouldn’t fall into the trap of labelling serious reform as a mansion tax. What Britain needs is a system that ensures the right households pay the right tax at the right time.

Reeves faces a £20bn fiscal hole while promising not to raise income tax, national insurance or VAT. Property wealth, now worth £9 trillion, is an obvious place to look. But this moment is about more than plugging a gap. It’s about fairness between north and south, old and young, renters and owners.

Fundamental property tax reform will not be easy. But like all great reforms, once implemented it will quickly come to be seen as common sense. At Fairer Share we stand ready to support Reeves and HM Treasury in building a system that is fair, simple and transparent.

This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity. We must not waste it.

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