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

[Redpipe]

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?

littlewhitewolf

I totally agree with your post, well said.

If you were a pensioner with a 2m house, why would you live with a low income? Sell it, buy something beautiful for 500k or less and have a fanatically easy retirement.

lots of poor people in London have to move away from family and friends in London as they cannot afford rent or mortgages. The diference is...?

I think i might be and what littlewhitewolf said makes sense but these people could sell their homes I don't see why they should get any tax relief because it is an old family home

Wow, that's an eye opener. I had no idea that house prices had gone THAT crazy. How is this proposed mansion tax going to work- are they going to tax people already living in these properties, or only when they change hands? The question is how best to even out this hyperinflated market....maybe just tax the hell out of second homes? Or introduce a kind of "London weighting" so that the threshold is higher in London?

I live in the Welsh Valleys and have to almost laugh at the insistence of some that London is the only place to live. However i also think that the reasons for the high house prices are justified so there should be a tax on higher priced homes. In London you have 24/7 public transport that's relatively cheap and easy to use, we don't have anywhere near the same here. You have jobs that pay well and even in the recession official figures show that London and the South East were largely unaffected, we simply don't have jobs. We have some of the worst poverty in Europe with some of the highest child poverty. No wonder our houses are cheaper. I love in a gorgeous town house in a nice area for a price that wouldn't even buy a parking space in London. These options are available to everyone in London but they wouldn't want to join us in our area because of reasons mentioned above.

filee777

Some might choose to move away and free up the equity but others may not. Some pensioners have be born and bred in the areas which have had massive increases. Their friends live there and they are staunchly working class and are happy with their lot and friends and familar surrounds may be more important to them than money.

My point is they should be able to choose in their late life.

Others may have seen massive increases in their properties but have children a local schools and therefore don't want to move. It doesn't mean they can afford a mansion tax though.

I will probably get flamed for saying this but I don't believe that owning a 2 million pound house automatically makes you rich.

The thing to do would be:

Sell £2m house
Buy £650-£750k house
Ker-ching!
Feel rich.

It's not "the tax man" that benefit nor is your neighbour being asked to "support others" - unless said pensioner actually doesn't take a state pension, never uses or has products delivered on the roads and never uses the NHS and so on and so forth. Unless you are arguing for a flat tax on all homes when bought or sold, I'm not seeing why the most expensive houses shouldn't result in higher tax just because more expensive homes are not evenly distributed throughout the country (because neither is the wealth...).

If anyone is considering paying over a million for one of those then, as they say, a fool and their money are soon parted.

My understanding is that the proposal is for the tax to be levied at people living in the properties.

So someone living in a £2million property may find themselves having to stump up £36k a year.

Sorry, multi-cross post. Was so at ridiculous OP that I didn't RTFT.

tbh it is just the opposite of the bedroom tax really

So the Long term Londoners may need to decide whether they value proximity to friends or school places highly enough to pay £36k a year for those choices.

Redpipe. Be realistic. Travel around Britiain. 2 million is rich!!!!

Who cares whether he is working class, or inheritied wealth. He is still owning a £2 million house.

And I am afraid, even old people get to move sometimes.

Not saying I agree with the mansions tax. But at least get real about it.

ihearsounds Sun 15-Sep-13 15:21:46
Oh and here are a couple of one beds.

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-27677259.html

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-40058536.html

The first one is the price for the block and includes FIVE apartments. The second one is in Knightsbridge which is one of the most prestigious parts of London, so is bound to be exceptionally high.

There are thousands of other properties in London which are nowhere near the 2 million mark, and if a pensioner lives in one, but is struggling financially, then they should downsize and sort their finances out.

Yes it penalizes London and the South. So what?
Is Lonodn and the South, special?

lots of poor people in London have to move away from family and friends in London as they cannot afford rent or mortgages

Exactly. I live where I grew up but gentrification and the premium on family homes means I seldom meet anybody else who did.

twistyfeet
"lots of poor people in London have to move away from family and friends in London as they cannot afford rent or mortgages. The diference is...?"

I think both are bad but there is a fundamental difference.

People priced out of the market are effected because they can't pay for themselves in that area. Lower income families who are being made to pay mansion tax are being asked to pay massive amounts for others (through tax) regardless of their income.

My understanding is that the proposal is for the tax to be levied at people living in the properties. So someone living in a £2million property may find themselves having to stump up £36k a year.

I know, but prices have risen that high because some fools are willing to pay it. Mainly foreign billionaires trying to get there money out of failing European economies. They have to tackle it depending on who owns the property.

ihearsounds: "Oh and here are a couple of one beds."

That first one you linked to is actually a whole block of apartments.

Can anyone show me one of these £2m family homes which is in an ordinary London neighbourhood and not some abode of the mega-rich like Marylebone or Kensington?

When stamp duty was introduced, that was a tax on the rich only. The majority of home owners now need to pay it.

If inflation carries on as it has been and if house prices continue to rise, there's a danger that the "mansion tax" will be a home owners tax in a couple of decades.

squeakytoy

So if a pensioner lives in one and isn't struggling but is not rich should they have to move?

nancerama

This is true.

£2 million3 bed flats do exist "up North" you know.

here