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.

It benefits the family to pay the care home fees themselves and hold on to the house for IHT purposes. Happens all over.

I've read the article. It's one of a range of options and I am waiting to see what the details are before saying if its good or bad. The idea is being pushed by the Fairer Share organisation.

https://fairershare.org.uk/12-things-you-didnt-know-about-council-tax/

What I do know is that council tax is regressive and outdated and the Stamp Duty as it stands discourages people from moving. With the land registry being digitalised, it will be a lot easier to track property wealth and see upfront what you will pay. Other countries do this without fuss - why not the UK?

I also agree that the benefits bill us too high, but we are dealing with the impact of long covid, a massive disruption to society and schooling and an increasingly sick and elderly population. Its going to take at least 10 years to fix that mess including the unwinding from Covid financial policies.

We need better solutions to get people back into work, including more mental health services and easier ways for people to upskill themselves throughout their working life. We also need less stigma towards part time workers as the caring burden in this country is going up, not down.

Funny how some posters who were happy with taxing the education of children, are now not happy about paying a tax on property. Strange priorities.

How do you even know what posters think about school fees on this thread?

JFC! This would radicalise me. It’s a total inversion of what it means to be a citizen. It’s craven, desperate and stretching the boundaries of incredulity. If this line is crossed, everything is liquified. Nothing means anything snd our basis of the nation state, law and structure is completely subverted.

I am in Scotland and in Band E (based on valuation band 58-80K, circa 1993)
I pay £236 p/m CT. In Scotland we also pay higher tax at lower incomes.

The problem is we all want a good deal for ourselves but no one wants to pay.
We need to spend on Defence. We need a decent NHS. We need decent state education. We need to build social housing, maintain benefits.These things cost.

I think Labour will be out next election.Partly due to Labour scoring silly own goals but largely due to global politics (eg the massive increase needed on defence spending whilst KS is trying to calm things on the world stage so Russian oil prices don't increase even more) If Reform or Reform/Tory coalition get in then it really will be everyman for himself, a la MAGA style policies.

I recognise some of them from VAT threads. So they supported the taxation of children's education but they don't support taxation of property. Says everything really.

Thank you for the reply and your measured thoughts. I’m relieved I wasn’t missing something from the article as, as you say, it is ‘light’ on everything required for a proper understanding of what is being considered or for forming any opinion on it!

I disagree with a lot of your rationale on the subject, but respect your views.
Thanks again.

I live 60 miles north of London. My commute was an hour each way. Property prices are nowhere near those in London. That’s why people have always commuted, are they all idiots?

interested in why you disagree - not sure i can reply back today as at work but will attempt to link to some decent economic literature when i can!

https://www.moreincommon.org.uk/our-work/voting-intention-trackers/

Horrific tracking for Labour in August

And yet there is a fairly long running thread about giving 16 year olds the vote, wherein a number, a fair number, of posters are quite brazen about taking the vote away from elderly people because, after all, they havent much to contribute, they're not going to live much longer, they dont live the same lives and have the same knowledge as someone younger and in work and dealing with normal day to day things, they might have dementia and.... gasp.... they are 'dated and tired'. Like a naff kitchen in one of those Sydenham flats.

NRFT but taxing on houses over a certain price is unfair and stupid- as the OP says it penalises people in very ordinary houses in the South East.
I wonder if having a rule where you only pay stamp duty when buying a bigger property would work?
So, if you are downsizing to a place with less square meterage you don’t pay, therefore giving older people the incentive to downsize?
I don’t know. There must be an answer but picking an arbitrary figure like this makes no sense.

Again, London is home to 13% of population but already pay 27% of all UK tax receipts.

Because not everyone who works in London lives there. How many more times does this need to be explained? It’s not a difficult concept.

I think you need to spend some time with people who have to pay insane rent on low paid jobs and give your very, comfortable, entitled upper middle class head a wobble. We live in a £250 k property, 3 kids in a ex council house. We are considered middle class (both educated) we don't have money to redo our one shity 70's bathroom.
Paying taxes is all of our duty and yes Queen you may now need to pay more because people on disability and the mum's who can't work because they're special needs children can't be looked after in mainstream schooling have already taking a maßsive hit on your behalf. It's YOUR TURN to contribute fairly and feel the sting my dear.

I don't have a problem with paying more tax as such, but I think it slightly bizarre to compare school vat. It seems theres posters who have it in for anyone who thinks that private schools are wrong and that we'd be better taxing more and giving better state provision so there are more choices.

If the principle of taxing houses is about taxing the wealthy, it makes no sense. You aren't wealthy if you still have a £500,000 debt on a house worth £556,000. You have £55,600 in assets which might be your only 'savings'. You might become what is deemed wealthy, but you aren't wealthy. You might have a high income, but you aren't wealthy.

If you want to tax income, tax income. If you want to tax assets, tax equity. But taxing a debt you are still serving? Hmm. Doesn't make sense.

Well they should make policy decisions based on those circumstances. Policy should strengthen family ties by enabling people to live near their families, and policy should help people who born in an area to afford it because actually that is how communities work - over generations.

If you want the economic argument, grandparents contribute to children growing up to contribute economically and adult children save the state £ by caring for their elderly parents.

Also what about your human right to a family life? Why are you only allowed that over international borders? Why doesn’t that apply to people who want to live near their parents and siblings for mutual support?

Brexit has made it very hard to grow our economy. Unfortunately no politician can say that, because Reform would pile on and call them traitors for not believing in Britain enough.

I know Labour are scrambling for money because they are unable to push through any type of welfare reform but it just feels that they are going for everyone else. Labour will be a one term government at this rate.

They need to go back to the drawing board and start again and really think through the impact of the changes they are proposing and ensure that these changes are looked at all in one big picture.

50k for a housing deposit in SE or 30k and transport fees, 50k for uni fees to get into a job in order to be able to save for a housing deposit. 25k in nursery fees for a child for the first two years, additional money required if you want to take time off following maternity leave to be with your toddler. Council tax that you have to pay but does not give you much in certain areas, water, gas and electric costs have doubled since Covid, food prices seem to be going up each month, growth is stagnating, the job market is unstable and the life people were promised for working hard at school/jobs is a pipe dream.

And you wonder why mental health issues are on the rise!

Labour need to be honest with the UK public. It was silly to say that they could improve things but not raise taxes. I would like Labour to be realistic, focus on getting the basics right for everyone and for everyone to be prepared to contribute and that might be hard for some people who have not been asked to contribute before but tough conversations need to be had.

I don’t have enough to redo my shitty 1980s bathroom because I pay so much tax. Are you happy? No one under the age of 60 has any spare money in this country. We’re all crippled trying to live.

Well that takes us back to an inference earlier in the thread that someone put to me, not sure if I answered it as I dont know the answer.... would the tax then only apply to those moving into an expensive area, to dissuade people from Manchester or LIverpool or Cornwall from moving to London and vice versa, dissuading people from London moving to an expensive house in Cornwall and so on and so on.

Because thats really the only way you can affect these things. Properties are just like any other market, the more desirable it is, the more people want it, the more the price goes up. Simple as.

Are Reform going to become electable though? Produce enough credible candidates and policies?

"Seems theres posters who have it in for anyone who thinks that private schools are wrong". No, I think taxing the education of children is wrong. I don't care what you think about independent schools but taxing education goes against every other country in the world and the basis that education, of any form and delivered by any means, is a merit good.

My point is that many posters were happy to see "others" pay that tax because it didn't affect them. Now something is being brought in which does affect them, they don't like it. I am calling out hypocrisy, nothing else.

Your username is ironic.So what you’re saying, disabled people, which is who this will affect, (this isn’t just about people who are not working, everyone will be just lumped into one)will never get an inflation increase which is wrong, how are the disabled meant to survive on on the same money, without the cost of living increase? Is this what you want? the disabled to live in complete poverty.

I can't understand why the government don't implement a training and apprenticeship set of skills for the unemployed or non-working or even mildly disabled to be able to manage government funded property building for social housing, with the able being able to learn carpentry or bricklaying or plastering or electrical work or gas work or any number of skills, with the less able being trained to do things like budgets and design and spreadsheets for all the multitude projects, or project management.
That would potentially kill two birds with one stone and also leave a population who previously didn't work with valuable skills that could go on to the open market which are not necessarily affected by future AI skill superiority.
Something I would investigate if I was a prime minister!

Well Labour didn't have many credible policies and many supporters during election stated they didn't care about that, they just wanted Tories out. So I really don't think it matters, all Reform need to do is not be Labour.