to think mansion tax is an unfair tax on London and the South East?

[goodnessgracious]

I disagree with mansion tax but regardless it seems to me to be unfair on Londoners.

Aibu to think that it may also force some people to sell their properties who are income poor but property rich?

MrTumblesBavarianFanbase

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-48098360.html

I've skimmed the last bit of the thread, but lol at the posters who are telling people to 'just move'.

I have been flamed before for saying "why don't people move to where there are jobs", because apparently that is a disgusting thing to say; but apparently it is fine to say 'why don't you move' to Londoners/people from the SE.

Several examples of MN double standards on this thread.

(Disclaimer: I'm not even from London, just shocked at the attitude of some on this thread).

Erm, grovel...was that link to a huge four-bed house with electronic security gates supposed to be an example of an "ordinary" home?!?

I'm quite enjoying it, don't worry.

As for who needs a house of this value... well have five children and I also work at home and their father before we parted also needed a room to teach music in from home too so that's quite a bit of space needed. We are within the M25 but not in inner London. Two of the children share bedrooms. We cannot afford to live where London council tenants can. Perhaps we should be levying the mansion tax on council tenants in £2m places in London which we through our hard work are funding to live in areas where we cannot afford to buy although probably most of those bigger places are nearer £1m than £2m that the council lets.

And yes we could move as indeed people will abroad if the UK becomes a place where those who work hard to support the poor are villified.

Not sure how to do the link on new look mobile MN, but propertywatch.co.UK lists London prices by postcode and number of bedrooms, and the average asking price for a 3 bed in most London postcodes is under 1 million - nearer 600 in many. Obviously this is very expensive, but it is nowhere near 2 million.

MrsJossNaylor, it's a 2,400 sq ft semi-detached house miles from Knightsbridge.

Also as Sleep says most people buying houses just over £2m or where the value has risen over that in the last few years are buying with a big mortgage. Okay mine even at £1.3m was probably less than the value of the house but we are not talking about everyone having an asset worth £2m they could sell and would have £2m. We have never when we moved house had any savings left at all as every last penny was used on buying the next house up. I am hoping in moving into my 4th decade of continuous work with the younger children now teenagers I might move into a stage where I can pay back mortgage and may be even get some savings. Yet I seem to be being classed by Labour as some kind of hugely rich millionaire when I have no savings.

The other interesting point is that as someone self employed and with the new lending rules I am not even sure I could get a mortgage now and that might apply to others who might have been allowed to borrow a large multiple in the past but could not now either buy their own house or move to a £1m one or even a £300k house (which is what the one we started out in 30 years ago would now be worth around here - outer London).

Anyway I don't think Labour will get in. Secondly I think our house now is under £2m just and if not now it will be it the mansion tax were to come so it may all be okay. Except it more generally won't because this country has a massive debt, is spending money hand over fist which it does not have and no party, not even the Tories is really prepared to tackle it nor reduce the size of the state so we have moved and will keep moving from a country of roughly 40% ish tax to one of the more higher taxed ones in the EU. The 7% stamp duty on the higher prices houses is particularly high tax.

"Perhaps we should be levying the mansion tax on council tenants in £2m places in London."

Greengrow - what a FANTASTIC plan! Yes, let's tax the poor even more! They're definitely the ones who are doing best in the current economic climate, aren't they?

What, with the bedroom tax, and workfare schemes, and zero-hour contracts and the rest, I bet those who qualify for council housing are having an absolute ball.

Why not turf them out altogether, pop them in a nice workhouse somewhere (outside the m25, obvs) and let all those nice hard-working wealthy people have the £2m houses the poor are unfairly blocking up?

I mean, I bet there are LOADS of massive million-pound piles being lived in by people who don't even WORK! LOADS of them. Its amazing that Chelsea isn't full of branches of Lidl and Aldi, what with the demographic of the neighbourhood.

Green that's a lifestyle choice, not a need. Very nice and why not if you can afford it, but wouldn't a lot of us like dedicated space to work from home and lots of children with their own rooms - its a lovely way to live but not a need - especially as the member of the household who needed the music teaching room no longer uses it.

We moved abroad because of house prices and cost of living, to allow us to live the (fairly simple, but with more than 1 child) lifestyle we chose 7 years ago, I'm not saying people should "just move" but that a 2 million house is very seldom never an "ordinary" home that an ordinary family "needs" by the standards of most mere mortals.

"MrsJossNaylor, it's a 2,400 sq ft semi-detached house."

Like I said - a bloody huge house! And immaculately done out too. That is not an "ordinary" home to 99bper cent of the population.

My house is about a quarter the size of that. Now, my house IS ordinary. You have proved very nicely that "ordinary" three-beds in London do not cost £2m.

mrtumbles there are an estimated 6,000 homes in Camden that would be subject to mansion tax. That's quite a lot of people in an area that is very different from Knightsbridge (thankfully). Property costs in the region of £1,000 per square foot. What space do you think people 'need' for an average family? How much do you have per person for example? 'Need' is a ridiculous argument anyway, if everyone only had what they needed then we would all have the same cars, holidays, clothes, food and boxes to live in...aka communism - if that is your ideal then maybe you should be the one moving?

Does this look like luxury mansion style living for a family?

Why don't they just redo council tax bands adding a couple more at the top end.?

That vicki is a much more sensible plan, along with closing all the loopholes on overseas owners who have got away with not paying stamp duty and currently don't pay any council tax at all...or at best 50% because the properties are empty.

Whereas it would be perfectly justifiable to need this mrtumbles ? Can you not see how the tax is inequitable and as the OP says, a penalty for making a home in London?

Council tax reform makes more sense. But I guess central government want to get their hands on the money to "save the NHS" so that's why they would rather have a new tax than let councils have the money.

Nope, nobody needs that either smile, and I did move :o

I have never said its fair (life isn't) but people arguing on here that "people need a place to live"are being disingenuous - those in 2 million pound houses do have an above or very significsntly above average size or standard of home, even in London.

Actually, Mrs joss naylor, I know at least one family who live in a 2m council house.

It's a 4 bed terrace, and actually is quite small for her family. She's a single mum with 5 kids between 10 and 16. But in 10 years all those children will have left home and she'll be on her own.

Does the right to buy scheme still exist? What if she's offered that? She's going to have to turn it down because she can't afford mansion tax...

Sleep sorry, not Smile

And the 3 bed flat you linked to has a pool and is right by Regents Park. It has a pool. A pool. Not "ordinary hard working Jo/ Joe trying to get by". A pool is a luxury to most people! :o

Not a mansion?!

A one bedroomed 'mansion' (although it is very posh!).

I'm guessing not to N Korea though Tumbles? I believe the average sized 3 bed home in the UK is around 1,000 ft2. That's £1m+ for a very average flat in Camden and a not especially grand 1600ft2 could tip you over £2m. You pay the premium for location, not space. Would you argue that nobody 'needs' to live in specific boroughs of London? Have ghost boroughs like Knightsbridge etc where the Arabs and Chinese play real life Monopoly?

Even The Guardian thinks it's a bad plan . If additional council tax bands were added to the existing ones as that article suggests, it would be much more equitable...and also generate those in genuine mansions outside of a London that are less than £2m, say in the £1-£2m band. Much more progressive.

Yes it's right by the park, you pay for the location. The pool...frankly I'd rather go to the local council one. It's big enough for a proper swim, I'd be less likely to bump into my neighbours and I suspect it would be better cleaned and maintained.

You did get that it's a pool shared by the block right? Not exclusive to the flat

Lovely mansion, yes :o But near Lancaster, where there is very little well paid work.

The beautiful 1 bed flat is on a "prestigious garden square" in Knightsbridge, it is not simply a place to live, it is a luxury products t not a family home by a y street h of the imagination and it is disingenuous to claim you are just paying for a very high end flat.