Reeves' plan to tax houses over 500k

[FridayFeelingmidweek]

Just been reading news about Reeves's plan to tax https://www.theguardian.com/money/2025/aug/18/rachel-reeves-stamp-duty-property-tax-council-tax

AIBU to already be worrying about living in the south east? Surely this will force people either to never move, or move away from SE/London.

I'm glad that there is finally something that isn't negatively affecting areas outside the SE but does she actually understand that 500k isn't much down here - 3 bed terrace at best.

Perhaps in the past when benefit entitlements were lower.

That's no longer the case.

Nail on the head.

@Dorisbonson so what type of work do the majority get visas for?

Frigging labour. Can’t work hard and have anything nice can you. The sooner we get these tosspots out the better.

Statistically, 80% of the country agree with the tax but almost 100% of home owners in London and south East disagree.

A 500k house in London would mean the house is in an undesirable area in London, cluster with families representing lower middle income households (in terms of disposable income after mortgage). Is it really taxing the "rich"? The threshold seems to be out of touch.

Stats are available online...

Agree with this.

Also in London even a very modest property is likely to be worth over £500 k. It's not even necessarily the better off who may have to pay - just anyone who needs to move.

At the moment 60% of properties are subject to stamp duty. Under these proposals 20% of properties would be subject to the new tax. Surely we can all see that this is better and fairer?
Yes the SE will be more affected, but this is going to redress decades (centuries?) of north/south inequity.

(Again, I live in the SE in a 500k house - this will affect me).

Yes, bring back the Tories! They were fab 🙄.

so fucking sick of this “hard working” narrative as if it’s only the rich that work hard 🙄

Wow.

You make a fair point.

The paper I quoted was written this year.

Well said.

@Dorisbonson and the stats i'm reading say care work and health professionals hence why I was interested in your stats 😆

Ah, I was taking your figures at face value.

Checking, I can see you are just chucking together figures, and using asylum seekers and migrants/immigrants that are different things interchangeably for your own ends. I'll leave you to it.

A significant percentage of this is pensions. I think a reform of pensions is required but this would be political suicide for anyone to undertake - look at the u turn with the winter fuel allowance due to outrage.

@VivienneDelacroix I read the same as you

Completely agree.it also worries me that this is how reform are going to get in.

Labour need to get better at their own PR stuff is getting better.

I live in the south east and in my town all you can get for 500k is a 1 or 2-bed terrace or flat. Anything that a family would live in is well over that price.

Completely agree.it also worries me that this is how reform are going to get in.

Reform are going to get in because far too many people would rather believe bullshit than reality. People know it's bullshit too but for whatever reason they can't help themselves.

Would make it very unappealing to downsize. Will just push prices up due to lack of supply.

Yes we looked at selling till we seen how much stamp duty would be. Decided to stay put. Stop saving and give our grandchildren any excess money each month.
this is all thanks to Rachael Reeves and the idiotic decisions being made which are being made by the labour government putting the country into more debt.

Not sure why the post has turned to immigration again but I hardly trust numbers from either side in terms of contributions. The argument on "contributions" can never be right when anyone thinks immigrants are all the same without properly recognizing sub-groups which can be vastly different from one another.

I do agree with you the numbers are shifting because "immigrants" as a big group has changed. In the last couple of years, one fifth of immigrants were refugees who were then granted settled status to access to public funds (I.e. social benefits). And surly they do not contribute to the society as immigrants previously did.

I come from a country with property tax but live in the UK. Council tax here is a bargain. Because there, the homeowners and landlords pay it and as I rent out my old home, I am very aware of how much it is. I don't think people here would like paying what Americans pay!

My house: worth about $300k on 1/16 of an acre in mid tier US city. $6414 a year. That's over $500 a month. The City assesses the value and decides what you pay. There isn't a yearly cap and some years can be a surprise. You don't pay, your house gets repossessed.

My parents house sold for under 100k a few years ago and they were also paying 500 a month in tax. Suburb but same county as top 3 US city.

If you live in New Jersey, those basic houses can be 10k a year. A cash strapped city in the north where it snows can be $$$.

Some cities do discounts for elderly people but no single person discount or jobseeker or anything else. You own the house, you pay the property tax. If you are asset rich and cash poor, you are in trouble.

If you work and have a property, labour tax you. They tax and spend.
Do people who vote Labour not see this ?