Mansion Tax Mayhem?
Thursday 30th July 2026
One of the last acts of ‘S’Kier’ and ‘Wretched Rachel’, before they were foisted out of office by ‘Big Boy’ Burnham, was to introduce a Mansion Tax for all properties with a value over £2m.
Now there are rumours that ‘Big Boy’ wants to reduce the level at which the tax kicks in, to £1.5m.
Who knows the truth?
In a truly misleading fashion, this Mansion Tax has been given the name ‘High Value Council Tax Surcharge’ HVCTS - get used to it - cooked-up by smug Treasury officials.
It is not any part of Council Tax. It is entirely for central Govt.
The local authorities may be forced to collect it but they will not see a penny for their own use. All the funds raised will have to be given directly to The Treasury to squander in the usual way.
The bands of this new tax will inevitably create price shelves, distorting natural values depending on the property’s proximity to a tax threshold.
Not as bad as the 3% to 7% Stamp Duty threshold rise at £2m which ‘Gordon’ Osborne brought into effect in March 2012. He was one of our worst ever Chancellors – and a Tory to boot!
Anyway, another little-known point is that whilst this new envy tax will not come into effect until April 2028, the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) is tasked with assessing the value of all properties and slotting them into a band, based on 2026 values.
The banding is not something that can be done on a self-assessment methodology like ATED - the Annual Tax on Enveloped Dwellings - which applies to corporately held properties.
No. The Valuation Office Agency will make the assessment. VOA is an arm of HMRC tasked with helping collect taxes, so you can be sure there will be a tendency to overvalue.
It might be quite hard work to fight a misallocation.
I am offering a solution for those concerned they might be mis-banded by VOA.
We are happy to do a FREE market-appraisal now of your property based on a realistic 2026 figure. You can keep this on file to contest any mistakes made by the authorities.
Although I say it myself, I believe our market appraisals contain more key indicators than any other agents’, and most surveyors’, appraisals I’ve have ever seen.
The market-appraisal will carry some weight, but if VOA get tricky, you may still need to get a formal ‘retrospective’ valuation from a RICS surveyor. They will of course charge a hefty fee to cover their PI Insurance. No need to do that at this stage - unless you like spending money!
Contact me now to book a FREE London property appraisal for you, or your client.
patrick@stanleypropertylondon.co.uk
Talk soon……….
PB
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