The Government has reportedly abandoned plans to reduce the threshold for the High Value Council Tax Surcharge from £2 million to £1.5 million. This decision means that nearly one in 10 London homes currently for sale will avoid the tax.
Analysis by estate agency Yopa indicates that 11,848 of the 792,456 homes listed across England have an asking price of £2 million or more, representing 1.5% of available stock. Had the threshold been lowered to £1.5 million, this figure would have risen to 22,092 homes, or 2.8% of properties on the market.
The impact of a lower threshold would have been concentrated in London. Of the homes listed at £2 million or more, 6,963 are in the capital, accounting for 59% of the national total. A £1.5 million threshold would have seen 11,316 London properties potentially affected, equating to 9.4% of all homes currently listed for sale in the city.
The High Value Council Tax Surcharge is scheduled for introduction in April 2028 and will apply to properties valued above the threshold. The retention of the £2 million level means approximately 10,244 fewer properties will fall within the scope of the surcharge compared to the proposed lower limit.