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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to think the idea of a mansion tax just penalises London and the south

585 replies

Redpipe · 15/09/2013 14:35

I will probably get flamed for saying this but I don't believe that owning a 2 million pound house automatically makes you rich. Certainly in London a 2 million will not buy you a mansion, more like a terraced family home.

AIBU to think that the idea just penalises people in the south?

OP posts:
Alisvolatpropiis · 15/09/2013 15:14

Most taxes unfairly penalise someone in one way or another.

If the wealth is in London/the south in general that's just the way it goes.

As far as I know, there are plenty of expensive homes up North.

Agree there are 2mil terraces in London, granted they're not exactly tiny. Saw one I liked for sale when visiting a whole back, checked it on right move and nearly choked. Identical houses go for 500k in Cardiff (and that's still too much!)

Original poster
Redpipe · 15/09/2013 15:14

Inmysparetime

So you do think the elderley neighbour should have to move?

BTW it's unlikely a nearby area will be much different in price either.

OP posts:
RedJeans · 15/09/2013 15:14

nearly £15,000,000 for this Shock
www.rightmove.co.uk/new-homes-for-sale/property-25622835.html

Binkybix · 15/09/2013 15:15

Part of the property the deceased person owned will go straight to the inland revenue

I think the point is that the person who dies is not paying the tax - the person who inherited (not earned) a huge amount of money through luck - gentrification of an area - is paying it.

InMySpareTime · 15/09/2013 15:15

I live in a nice area in NW England, you could get half a dozen houses for £2M round this way.
Who keeps buying these ludicrously expensive houses? Surely to keep prices rising it must be a seller's market.

Original poster
Redpipe · 15/09/2013 15:15

Haloojones

Yes sign away their asset to the tax man.

OP posts:
Original poster
Redpipe · 15/09/2013 15:17

binkybix

I understand that but my point is the inland revenue will benefit from the increased value of the home anyhow.

OP posts:
HalooJones · 15/09/2013 15:17

Redpipe. Not the tax man. A private investor that would get a % of the value of the house when it is sold after the owners death.

Nancy66 · 15/09/2013 15:18

former council house - now worth nearly £2million

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-41235569.html?premiumA=true

Original poster
Redpipe · 15/09/2013 15:18

Thank you for the links Ihearsounds Smile

OP posts:
HalooJones · 15/09/2013 15:19

InMySpareTime: Russian Oligarchs and Saudi Oil sheikhs are buying the property. Not British people. London has become a playground for the worlds rich.

TheCrackFox · 15/09/2013 15:20

How much are the Lib Dems hoping to raise from this? How much will it cost to administer?

Original poster
Redpipe · 15/09/2013 15:20

Nancy66
Thanks for the link.

OP posts:
InMySpareTime · 15/09/2013 15:21

Your neighbour could rent out a room in his 3-bedroom house if he's that hard up.
What's the point in living in an extremely valuable house as a pauper?
Personally, I think your neighbour would have a much better standard of life if he moved.
I'm not saying he "has" to move, but how does his situation benefit him, even now, without the tax?

Havea0 · 15/09/2013 15:23

Redpipe. The 2 million pound house you are talking baout. Is there a mortgage on it?

Original poster
Redpipe · 15/09/2013 15:23

thecrackfox

I'd like to know the same answer

OP posts:
mrsjay · 15/09/2013 15:23

IF you can afford to repay a mortgage on a 2 million pound house then pay the bloody tax or sell it and move somewhere within your means,

mrsjay · 15/09/2013 15:24

I mean the General you

LittleWhiteWolf · 15/09/2013 15:24

I think the issue is less with taxes and more with the ridiculous way property prices can fluctuate; I live over an hour outside of London yet cannot afford to buy here because of high property prices. So using your words another way, that penalises those of us north of the M25.

Maybe instead of there being an "us" and "them" argument as to who's worse off or who suffers more or is more penalised, there should be more of a focus on hour the nation can exist all together so that there are no more extremes of wealth and poverty?

Binkybix · 15/09/2013 15:27

redpipe

I see, sorry - misunderstood you. I don't think I agree with mansion tax as long as inheritance tax is a hell of a lot harder to avoid.

Nancy66 · 15/09/2013 15:27

But Mrs Jay the owner of a house worth £2million may well have bought it when it was worth £300k

Original poster
Redpipe · 15/09/2013 15:28

inmysparetime

He's not a pauper FFS he's just a normal guy on a pension who is just fine. He benefits from living here because he was born and bred here as were his parents, he knows many neighbours. Just because he could free up cash if he moved away doesn't mean that would work for him. However, he could not pay the £20 grand a year in tax! It'd be more than his total pension.

OP posts:
Original poster
Redpipe · 15/09/2013 15:29

Mrs Jay
But many people bought their homes for a lot lot less. In some cases hundreds of pounds years ago. I think you're missing the point.

OP posts: