Burnham's argument is that government should not let private landowners capture the whole windfall from publicly funded infrastructure. The value created by the line should help repay the line.
Summary of Burnham's land value capture argument, June 2026Burnham has said that failing to capture land value uplift around Crossrail stations was a mistake, and has argued for a more devolved approach to funding infrastructure through the value the infrastructure creates. The reasoning is straightforward. A new station or line increases nearby land and property values because journey times fall and the area becomes more attractive to live, work and invest in. That uplift is created by public investment. Capturing a share of it to help pay for the investment is not a tax on existing wealth. It is recovery of value created by the project itself.
The HS2 Situation
The cancellation left land along the route in limbo and ended construction short of Manchester, with Leeds already removed from the eastern leg. Burnham has fought the cancellation publicly since it was announced. The programme's commitment to complete HS2 to Manchester and Leeds under Emergency Act powers is one of its flagship infrastructure pledges, deliverable on the existing 2024 mandate.
The case for cancellation rested heavily on cost. The case for land value capture is that part of that cost was always going to be recovered somewhere, but under the old model the recovery went to landowners near stations rather than to the public sector. The mechanism does not pretend HS2 becomes cheap. It changes who ultimately carries part of the cost.
How the Mechanism Works
Land and property within a defined radius of confirmed HS2 stations, including Manchester Piccadilly, Manchester Airport and Leeds, is assessed before construction begins to establish a baseline.
As construction proceeds and the line opens, land and property values rise because the area becomes better connected and more commercially valuable.
A portion of that uplift is captured through instruments modelled on the Crossrail Business Rate Supplement and Mayoral Community Infrastructure Levy, applied to commercial premises and new development that benefit from the improved connectivity.
The revenue services borrowing used for construction, in the same way Crossrail's business rate supplement helps repay Greater London Authority borrowing over time.
What This Changes
What it does
What it does not do
The Wider Argument
Burnham's Crossrail argument is the same principle the programme applies to land more broadly. Land near a new HS2 station gains value because of the station. Land in a city centre gains value because of decades of public investment in transport, schools, policing and infrastructure. In both cases, the value is partly publicly created.
HS2 is the proof of concept. If land value capture around new stations can recover a meaningful share of one project's cost, the same principle applied more broadly becomes the basis for funding infrastructure without negotiating a bespoke levy for every project.
Deliverable on the Existing Mandate
HS2 completion to Manchester and Leeds under Emergency Act powers is categorised on the mandate page as deliverable on the existing 2024 mandate. A land value capture model based on existing Crossrail style instruments can be part of that first wave of delivery while national land value tax remains a fresh manifesto mandate item.