Two next-door neighbours have criticised Rachel Reeves‘s proposed changes to council tax to facilitate a ‘mansion tax’ because only one of them will be affected – even though they live in similar-sized houses.
Web developer Jez McKean, 44, lives with his family of a wife and two children in a four-bedroom house in council tax Band F that could be affected by the changes.
His neighbour, school administration assistant Alice Yates, 41, will not be impacted because her four-bedroom home in Chandler’s Ford, Hampshire, is in Band E.
Their homes are similar in size and there is only a £57,000 difference in value – with Zoopla estimating Mr McKean’s at £730,000 and Mrs Yates’s worth £673,000.
The Chancellor is expected to unveil plans in today’s Budget to revalue 2.4million of the most valuable homes across the top council tax bands of F, G and H.
Those properties which have gained significant value compared to the rest of the market or inflation, depending how the scheme works, could go up a band.
The revaluation within bands F, G and H would then facilitate a separate ‘mansion tax’ surcharge on more than 100,000 properties worth at least £2million.
The exact details of the plan have not been confirmed and it is possible that the new valuations will not be used to facilitate the mansion tax. Many other scenarios could also unfold in today’s announcement in the House of Commons at 12.30pm.
However if the ‘mansion tax’ is announced as expected, it could cost owners an average of £4,500 each and raise £450million for the Treasury – but there will be no impact on homes in the lower five council tax bands of A to E.
Jez McKean (left) in front of his home in Chandler’s Ford, which is in council tax Band F; and his next-door neighbour Alice Yates (right) in front of her home, which is in council tax Band E
Web developer Jez McKean, 44, lives with his family of a wife and two children in a four-bedroom house in council tax Band F that could be affected by the ‘mansion tax’ policy
This is leading to situations of neighbours with similar houses where one is in Band F under threat of moving up a band – and the other a Band E which will not change.
In Chandler’s Ford, Band E properties have a council tax payable to Eastleigh Borough Council of £2,656 – while Band F is £3,139, Band G is £3,621 and Band H is £4,346.
Mr McKean explained that it did not make ‘sense’ that his family could be affected, when other houses of a similar size – like his neighbour’s – would not be.
Council Tax bands in England (based on values on April 1, 1991) A – up to £40,000B – £40,001 to £52,000C – £52,001 to £68,000D – £68,001 to £88,000E – £88,001 to £120,000F – £120,001 to £160,000G – £160,001 to £320,000H – More than £320,000 <!- – ad: https://mads.dailymail.co.uk/v8/us/news/none/article/other/mpu_factbox.html?id=mpu_factbox_1 – ->
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He said: ‘I have always thought it weird that the bands have cut-offs rather than sharing it equally across everybody. It could be another thing on top of us being hit by private school tax increases.
‘The house next door is different, but not that different, so the abrupt change does not seem fair. It does not make sense.’
Mr McKean said he would not consider his house to be a ‘mansion’, adding: ‘I would not call it a mansion when it is on a road with other houses. I would consider it to be a mansion if it has a name and not a number.
‘It is not different enough from next door for it to be fair for it to be a bigger increase for us.’
Mr McKean lives with his family and their golden retriever dog in the house, which is currently valued at £730,000 according to Zoopla.
Mr McKean’s house is in council tax Band F, while Mrs Yates’s house is in Band E.
Mrs Yates said she was ‘very relieved’ she would not be affected by any potential increase because she and her husband would not be able to ‘cope’ with paying more tax.
She said she sympathised with her neighbours because she thought they had a very similar ‘good-sized family home’.
Mrs Yates lives with her husband, two children and a dog in their four-bedroom house, which is currently valued at £673,000, according to Zoopla.
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She said: ‘I didn’t realise it was going to affect our street. I thought it was going to affect wealthy areas, but that’s not really us. I mean, we do have a street with low, middle, and high-end houses.
‘If we were affected, there is no way we would be able to cope with it. I am very relieved that it is not happening to us.
‘The cost of bills is going up as everything is. We didn’t buy a house that was at the top range of our budget. Now I am really grateful that we did that.’
Talking about her neighbour’s house, she said: ‘We are the same-sized family as next door, and there is not a drastic difference.
‘They have two kids, two parents, and a dog. It doesn’t really seem fair. They are good-sized four-bed homes, a good-sized family home. ‘
She added: ‘They [the Government] need to think a lot more about it and do a full consultation about how they are going to change it and not just in the budget by making a quick decision.’
Mrs Yates said that the council had recently re-evaluated her council tax to be in a higher band, but she had queried this and managed to remain in the lower band.
She said that this made her more relieved that she stayed in the lower council tax band because it would be difficult to cope otherwise.
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Chancellor Rachel Reeves at 11 Downing Street in London yesterday, ahead of the Budget
Homeowners are expected to be allowed to defer paying the ‘mansion tax’ until they move house or die, to avoid people having to sell up to cover the cost.
Experts have warned it will damage the property market at a time when the Government is looking to build 1.5million more homes.
Any changes affecting bands F, G and H would disproportionately hit homes in the South East, London and the East of England.
The South East has around 645,000 homes in the top three council tax bands, compared to just 43,000 in the North East, according to official data.
The threshold means Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and Home Secretary David Lammy – who own properties in north London worth between £1.5million and £2million – are likely to escape the tax.
But Energy Secretary Ed Miliband and Attorney General Lord Hermer could be clobbered, because they each own homes with an estimated value of close to £4million, analysis suggests.