Mansion tax 'worst thought out property levy in 300 years', councils tell Chancellor ahead of policy's introduction
Four London councils have slammed Labour's mansion tax as worse than the 1696 property tax, which saw residents bricking up their windows.
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Homes valued at more than £2 million will have to pay between £2,500 and £7,500 each year from April 2028 - with 165,000 properties set to be affected, according to the Office for Budget Responsibility.
Most of the homes set to be levied are in London - and now Wandsworth, Kensington & Chelsea, Westminster, and Richmond councils have written to Chancellor John Healey to ask him to reverse the planned hike.
The group of councils say their residents will hand over £270 million each year under the plans - more than half of the £400 million which the OBR expects to be raised.
The councils’ letter said: “This is a badly thought-out policy: one with limited revenue-raising ability, high implementation costs and a hugely disproportionate impact on our residents.”
Peter Graham, Wandsworth’s cabinet member for finance, said: “This is the most badly designed tax on properties since the one on windows, 330 years ago.”
The so-called window tax of 1696 began charging homeowners across England and Wales based on how many windows it had.
The levy resulted in homeowners bricking up their windows in order to avoid the tax.
The councils' letter suggested that some may turn to similar tactics to artificially deflate the value of their homes.
It said: “A home is the centre of family life, not an untapped tax stream. It is simply wrong to assume that everyone living in these homes is wealthy. Many are not and, under this proposal, some will be forced to sell the family home simply to meet the tax.
“It cannot be an acceptable situation that our residents could lose their home through no fault of their own, to pay a tax that they could not have envisioned when they bought their home.”
Gareth Roberts, the leader of Richmond council, said the government was using residents as “cash cows” to fix funding gaps.
Elizabeth Campbell, the leader of Kensington and Chelsea council, said: “It lacks nuance and will hit pensioners, families and long-standing residents whose homes have risen in value while their incomes have not.”
The Treasury said: “This tax is expected to raise more than £400 million a year to help to fund public services and it will address a longstanding unfairness in our country, where a Band D home in Darlington or Blackpool pays more in council tax than a £10 million mansion in Mayfair.”