Londoners face a £1bn annual mansion tax bill
LABOUR and Liberal Democrat proposals for a mansion tax would fall almost entirely on homeowners in London, with three boroughs in the capital footing over two thirds of the bill, research out yesterday by Zoopla showed.
A mansion tax levy would effectively be a “London tax”, with homeowners in the capital paying just over £1bn of the estimated, total £1.2bn raised, the property firm said.
More than one third (36 per cent) of the UK total would be paid from within the borough of Kensington & Chelsea, where there are 18,660 homes worth over £2m.
The three boroughs of Camden, Kensington and Chelsea and Westminster would collectively pay 67.2 per cent of the total.
Zoopla’s Lawrence Hall said “Homeowners in London and the south east already pay the lion’s share of UK property taxes …Implementing an additional charge based on higher property values over an arbitrary threshold would only serve to further distort the market.”
The figures emerged as the Liberal Democrats yesterday reinforced their commitment to introducing the controversial tax after the next elections.
Chief treasury secretary Danny Alexander said the move would “release a wee bit of steam” from the top end of the London market.