Londoners face annual £1bn mansion tax bill
Three boroughs to make up more than two thirds of overall yield
PROPOSALS put forward by both Labour and the Liberal Democrats for a mansions tax would see Londoners contributing £1bn to the public purse annually.
The burden, according to Zoopla research, would fall almost entirely on the capital, with two thirds of the total derived from just three boroughs, City AM reports.
More than a third (36%) would be sourced in Kensington & Chelsea, which boasts 18,600 properties worth more than £2m.
The boroughs of Camden, Kensington & Chelsea and Westminster would account for 67.2% of the total yield.
The Liberal Democrats have already pledged to introduce the levy should they win the next election, with chief secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander noting he expects the move to “release a wee bit of steam” from the top of the market.
Zoopla spokesman 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 an arbitrary threshold would only serve to further distort the market.”