The actual value of each of those tax rates remains to be seen, but the governor hopes the new tax will bring in $500 million a year, funds New York City could desperately use at it struggles to pay its estimated<\/a> $5.4 billion deficit. In 2023, about 59,000 units in the city were \u201cheld for seasonal, recreational, or occasional use,\u201d according to The New York City Housing and Vacancy Survey<\/a>.<\/p>\n Detractors say that the proposal fails to take into account the significant amount of property tax dollars those second homes already bring to New York City. For example, Ken Griffin, the billionaire founder of the hedge fund Citadel, paid more than $840,000 in property taxes last year on his penthouse that overlooks Central Park. In 2019, his purchase of the penthouse for $238 million was the most expensive residential sale in U.S. history at the time.<\/p>\n The record remains a symbol of income inequality in a city now headed by Mr. Mamdani, a democratic socialist, who announced the second-home tax proposal in a social media post where he appeared in front of Mr. Griffin\u2019s building.<\/p>\n Mr. Griffin, whose primary residence is in Palm Beach, Fla., did not respond to a request for comment about his thoughts on the proposal.<\/p>\n British media reports<\/a> have chronicled the exit of several well-known billionaires. John Fredriksen, the Norwegian-born shipping magnate, told newspapers \u201cBritain has gone to hell\u201d before selling his $338 million mansion and relocating to Dubai. Nassef Sawiris, the owner of the Aston Villa soccer team who is known as the richest man in Egypt, also exited and blamed the government on his way out.<\/p>\n \u201cThis was all in the making for 10 years of incompetence by the most left-leaning Conservative Party in history,\u201d Mr. Sawiris told the Financial Times<\/a> in April of last year.<\/p>\n There are additional factors to consider. The new taxes came just as Britain exited the European Union, a move that bruised its own economy and made foreign investment more uncertain than ever. Research from real estate firms like Knight Frank<\/a>, however, have pointed to the new taxes as having a more direct impact on housing prices than Brexit.<\/p>\n The share of foreign buyers buying investment properties worth more than 5 million pounds in Central London has dropped four percent over the past decade, according to the Savills Index, which tracks residential property data across England.<\/p>\n Taxes on second-home owners in England have been piling up since 2016, when a Stamp Duty tax required any home buyers who already owned at least one property to pay an additional surcharge of around 3 percent. In April 2025, the government gave local councils in England the power to ramp up property taxes on second homes by as much as 100 percent. That same month, the government abolished the special tax status of nonresidents, instituting new rules that tax them on their global income.<\/p>\n The flurry of new taxes, said Lucian Cook, a London-based housing economist who leads research for Savills, have created a narrative that London is no longer as friendly to real estate investment. The number of foreign buyers in the Britain registering with a real estate agent \u2014 the first step before purchasing property \u2014 is now at its lowest level since 2008. At the same time, the real estate markets in cities like Barcelona and Dubai, where tax rules are much friendlier to second-home buyers, are seeing a fresh influx of foreign money.<\/p>\n \u201cOne city\u2019s tax is another city’s gain,\u201d said Ryan Serhant, the founder and chief executive of the New York brokerage SERHANT.<\/p>\n Brad Lander, the former city comptroller and mayoral candidate who is now running for Congress, said in an interview that the proposed tax would be a windfall for New York City, and that concerns about a looming exit of wealthy businesspeople were being exaggerated.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople will pay this relatively modest tax and we\u2019ll have additional resources,\u201d he said. \u201cI think people know broadly that it\u2019s a good idea at this moment to tax the wealthiest in order to fund the basic services that everybody needs. It is an intuitive concept: nobody really needs more than one home. If you can afford two, three, four, or five, you should pay a little extra so that other people can survive.\u201d<\/p>\n But in London, Mr. Cook said, so many international buyers have turned elsewhere, taking their spending and charitable giving with them, that the market has deflated.<\/p>\n \u201cAll of this has played into the narrative that London isn\u2019t as welcoming to international wealth as it was previously,\u201d Mr. Cook said. \u201cIt sends a message.\u201d<\/p>\n In an email to Citadel staff on Thursday, Gerald Beeson, the chief operating officer, noted that Mr. Griffin has personally made donations worth $650 million to social-good causes in the city, including museums, hospitals and educational groups.<\/p>\n \u201cThe mayor has once again manifested the ignorance and disdain of the elite political class towards those who have been consistently committed to building one of the greatest cities in the world,\u201d Mr. Beeson said in the email, which was reviewed by The New York Times and first reported by The Wall Street Journal.<\/p>\n Citadel employees also have collectively paid $2.3 billion in city and state taxes over the last five years, Mr. Beeson said in the email. The hedge fund is currently preparing to start construction on a super-tall tower on Park Avenue, a project that the company estimates will create 15,000 new jobs in the city. The project was approved last September.<\/p>\n The email sent a chill through the real estate industry, with worries that both commercial and residential real estate exits could be on the horizon. Some business leaders are rallying to convince Ms. Hochul to change course.<\/p>\n In 2019, when a similar second-home tax was proposed for New York, the city\u2019s powerful real estate lobby mobilized to help torpedo it<\/a>.<\/p>\n Jim Whelan, the president of the Real Estate Board of New York, said his organization was opposed to the idea of the tax and was holding conversations with Gov. Hochul\u2019s team to share its perspective.<\/p>\n \u201cTax policy impacts behavior,\u201d Mr. Whelan said. \u201cThe impact it has on behavior is that people decide to do other things. They decide to purchase elsewhere.<\/p>\n Debra Kamin<\/p>\n Reporter covering New York<\/p>\n I spoke to several economists while reporting this story, and they shared something counterintuitive: it\u2019s new second-home taxes, not Brexit, that has played the biggest role in battering the housing market in London. The lowering of home prices hasn\u2019t brought any relief to renters, either \u2014 rents there are now actually at an all-time high.<\/p>\n![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/cropped-85e04be3dbfaec310e9a7010abe51a52d04e6ca59bb8578d1e5cf6ad01737abfc8472866.png\")
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