'I don't live in a mansion. It's a 1930s house': Richmond residents react to council tax rise

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

54% : Rachel Reeves's new council tax surcharge on homes worth £2m or more earns mixed reception in well-heeled London borough
54% : " On Wednesday, Rachel Reeves revealed that from April 2028, owners of properties in England valued at £2m and over in 2026 will be required to pay an annual high-value council tax surcharge on top of existing council tax.
53% : Among Rachel Reeves's other announcements, the basic and higher rates of tax on property, dividend and savings income will increase by two percentage points.
52% : The Millers will also have to pay more tax in future on the income they receive from renting out a nearby home, which they originally bought for Nick's parents.
51% : " Weeks of speculation in the run-up to the late budget about a possible property tax shake-up had already stalled the local housing market, according to Amy Reynolds, the head of sales at the local estate agent Antony Roberts.
50% : "For individual landlords, who make up the bulk of the market and who are already squeezed by higher borrowing costs and previous tax changes, this could accelerate the trend of investors exiting the market," she added.
49% : The surcharge is expected to raise £400m in 2029-30, slightly less than had been expected, and the revenues will be sent to central government rather than remaining with local authorities, as usually happens with council tax.
49% : "[The introduction of the tax] is quite far away, but at least there is clarity where we stand and people now know what to expect.
47% : In the leafy London borough of Richmond, on the south-western fringes of the capital, there was quiet resignation at the chancellor's announcement of a "mansion tax" on England's most expensive properties.
47% : The increase in property income tax rates will add "further pressure on landlords who own property in their own name", but will not affect those who operate through limited companies, said Aneisha Beveridge, the head of research at Hamptons.
44% : The measure broadly matches pre-budget leaks and aligns with Reeves's pledge last month that those with the "broadest shoulders" should pay their "fair share" of taxes.
42% : "Given that council tax hasn't been comprehensively updated since 1991, it would be far more sensible to invest the time in revaluing all council tax bands," she said.
35% : The constituency of Richmond Park - which includes parts of Barnes, Kew, East Sheen and Richmond-on-Thames - is likely to be among the places most affected by Rachel Reeves's property tax changes announced in the budget.
32% : "Despite headline tax rates on expensive homes and landlords going up, the OBR don't believe the new taxes will raise any money at all, with behavioural changes eating away at tax revenues," Beveridge said.

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