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?

Well there you go then, there are always ways round these things. It's just a ridiculous thing to moan about! Talk about first world problems..

There is a major difference between moving for personal reasons/needs to find work etc. and having to move because the government are taxing you out of your family home.

Why is it any different? Both are the direct result of successive governments' policy. One could equally say that I have to move to find work because the government have failed to provide economic opportunities in my area. How very dare the government not lay on a job for me exactly where I want to live so I can live near my family!

btw I do feel sorry if someone has to move when they don't want to, because I've experienced it myself. But someone sitting on a 2 million pound house is someone who has considerably more options than, well, almost everybody else. Moving because you can't afford the tax is no different to moving because you find you can no longer afford the maintenance/heating/council tax for the property. Which happens all the time.

And I'll say it again: this tax does not apply to your neighbour as his home is worth 'only' between 1 and 2 mil. It sounds like you live in a very affluent area. Is your home one of those which would be eligible for the tax?

Meh. If you own a property valued at over £2m you're either on a high salary and able to service a huge mortgage, or you've benefited massively from rises in property prices and so have effectively received £2m of unearned income. So you're rich. And should pay into the system appropriately.

If you own a house worth 2 million plus, of course you are rich. If you don't think so, you are v naive. Maybe not cash rich but plenty of equity there if you need it.

Yes, it is tough for individuals to have to move/ make changes to their lifestyle but why should the rich be exempt from this?

married has just given a perfect example of how easy it is for the rich to avoid taxes. They have options which simply aren't available to the great majority.

Out of interest and I you don't mind my asking, married, would you say that you are rich?

paying tax benefits everyone. We get hospitals, roads, police blah de blah de blah. The OP seems to think the poor pensioners tax will only be going to 'scroungers'. London is an expensive city to run.

No, I wouldn't say we are rich in the context of SW/West London. Here we are comfortable and surrounded by people who own companies worth tens and tens of millions.

If we bought a 2 million property in Yorkshire, ie, a real mansion I don't think we could afford to maintain it and retain our capital over the next 20-30 years.

Amongst our contemporaries and the families the DC go to school with, we are pretty ordinary and low key.

twisty
"The OP seems to think the poor pensioners tax will only be going to 'scroungers'. "

Thanks for answering, married. It's interesting to hear how it all feels relative, even when to the majority of people (nationally and globally) you would seem to be rich.

Starfish - that's one of the worries about the proposed tax. who does the valuation and how accurate will it be? Will the property owner be able to dispute the valuation?

Seems very badly thought through

Oh. Here's marriedinwhite again talking about her money. Again. What a terrific shock.

I don't think it makes much sense to tax people after the fact, does it? If this were grandfathered in, fine. But I agree that it makes more sense to review the council tax bands. They top out at 500K in Hammersmith & Fulham if memory serves.

Beg pardon crowler. You can have honesty when an opinion is requested on a public forum or we can all pretend and proide no diversity. I could get as irritated at those who rely on lentils and goats but try to have a little more grace.

Now avert your green little eyes and focus on your own nearest and dearest without vitriol.

One of the problems with the idea of the mansion tax is taxing an asset after you've purchased it. If you agree to this for "rich people" how long will it be before a politian decides you have too much valuable stuff and demands a tax on it.

To be fair, married, it was a slightly odd post as you just told us about your situation rather than opining on the topic. Having said that, I will totally admit to being jealous! :)

op. I am pretty sure if it were to hapen, that there will be money firms in an instant, willing to do some sort of deal with him so that he can stay where he is.

Just a thought. Lots of pensioners are reluctant to move from houses that they have lived in for years, benefitting from them going up in value massively. If they sold and released the equity, which after all, is unearned and purely down to luck, many of them will be over the threshold for state funded supporting have to contribute towards the care and support they receive.

Marriedinwhite, why do you assume I'm jealous? I'm curious.

I just find it strange that you are so keen to discuss your finances, over and over again. It seems as though you're courting jealously.

As for the goats and lentils, you've got me - I have no idea what you're talking about.

In fairness, married, not a single other person on this thread has mentioned their personal financial details but you have chosen to without referring to the OP.

I doubt whether anyone thinks of themselves as rich because they always know plenty of people who are richer. They chose to compare themselves to their wealthy acquaintances in SW London rather than everyone in the country, paying into the same tax pool.

I think SW London is particularly vexing in this way. One loses perspective.

I think married's post was very interesting, and why cant she gives us details? Far more interesting than 'those bastards in London deserve to pay prop up the rest of the UK' posts.

I live in London, my house has increased by a stupid amount since I bought it in 2010, no where near mansion tax level but I would be fucked off if it did get that high and I had to pay and I would hope I could find someone as smart as married did to work around it.

It's just that is struck me as an odd post because it was just saying how they are avoiding tax, rather than discussing the merits of a 'mansion tax', which the OP was about.

I just don't understand where the valuations are going to come from, and how long they'll be valid for. I live in south east London, in a fairly ordinary area, not rough and not posh. House prices on our road have jumped by about 20% since we bought 4 years ago. But these big jumps have been very recent - prices were fairly static for a while. And prices of similar houses on other roads just a few hundred metres away are different. Next month who knows - things could go up or down. In London prices seem to fluctuate wildly from one week to the next. The only value you can really count on is the agreed price at point of exchange. So who is going to decide what houses are really worth, and how often will they adjust the valuations?

I think married was just making the point that the wealthier one is, the easier it is to streamline one's tax affairs.

It's sad but true.