Page 37 | Reeves' plan to tax houses over 500k

FridayFeelingmidweek · 2025-08-18T19:25:24+00:00

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 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.

Bambamhoohoo · 19/08/2025 13:57

SinisterBumFacedCat · 19/08/2025 13:55

There are a lot of homes over £500k in the SE and they are not mansions, many ordinary semidetached terraced 2-3 bedroom family houses, some ex council, and the people living in them aren’t especially well off, the just bought them a few years ago when they could afford them (I’m talking mid 2000’s, not back in the 80’s). These people have normal jobs and aren’t that well off, the SE isn’t brimming exclusively with millionaires.

And as established on the thread, there are loads of £500k houses in the north and the midlands too

DrPrunesqualer · 19/08/2025 13:57

EvangelicalAboutButteredToast · 19/08/2025 13:34

Any tax that potentially forces people out of their houses is immoral. It’s one thing to take on a known tax burden when you are purchasing a property but quite another to put a huge tax burden on someone who has resided in a property for decades and planned to stay there. Imagine being responsible for forcing tens if not hundreds of thousands of people out of their homes. All clambering for cheaper properties that no longer exist.

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According to the article
Nothing would change for people who’ve already paid stamp duty though
This ‘New’ idea/ system would only kick in once you move

soupyspoon · 19/08/2025 13:58

Bambamhoohoo · 19/08/2025 13:54

If this tax has been introduced sooner, we likely would’ve limited the property inflation that has led to this inequality.

my parents bought a house for £28k and sold it 31 years later for £475k.

cab you really justify that untaxed wealth/ income? They didn’t work hard, all they did was work the same as anyone else does, bought a house and paid off a mortgage. What’s so outstanding about that?

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I agree with your latter paragraph but I dont think you're right that it would have limited property inflation. That took off due to less restriction at one point about lending multiples and deposits. I also strongly believe that help to buy was a huge problem. I dont agree with it, but would have supported a slightly different version of it where interest should have been paid back to the government on sale of the property much higher and much earlier. The exemptions were way too much.

soupyspoon · 19/08/2025 13:58

And of course not replacing social housing. Disgraceful

LemondrizzleShark · 19/08/2025 13:59

soupyspoon · 19/08/2025 13:19

You said this

A 500k home does not equate to wealth, there are new homes being built in our village going for over 400k and I'm in the North West of England

You said a 500k home doesnt equate to wealth. Well you need to be well off to buy it. No?
What are the multiples now, 5x? So you're on 80k plus, as you'd have a deposit to buy it. In what world is 80k not fairly well off.
What are the multiples for joint income, 4x? So each partner if in a couple would need to be on around 50k (assuming deposit of 100k of course)
The multiples are needing a higher income if your deposit is only 5%

You can be wealthy and livin the North West.

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So, looking within 30 miles of Newcastle, there are more 3-4 bed houses over £500k on Rightmove than there are under £500k.

You would be able to afford a £500k house on the salary of a plumber and a nurse, assuming they are not FTBs (and FTBs do not usually buy 4 bedroom family houses). That doesn’t seem particularly wealthy to me.

TerminalMoraine · 19/08/2025 14:03

Decoart · 18/08/2025 20:46

Council Tax is a joke - in my village two new builds opposite each other 4 bed sold £850k put in band F and other 5 bed worth sold £750k put in band G, bungalow turned into a house recently sold for 1.25 million still in Band E. All should be band G.
Plenty of people appealing being in too high a band but nobody checking of people are in too low a band the £££ council missing out on.

Also not increasing CT banding when properties are extended. The number of extensions, including loft conversions and garden outbuildings , completed on my road and only one has had the banding increased.

sundrenchedsummerandrose · 19/08/2025 14:04

Some countries, I believe, do have a yearly property tax but it's capped (and not at a ridiculous level). I don't agree with it but if it had to happen, this surely is something they'd have to consider.

soupyspoon · 19/08/2025 14:05

LemondrizzleShark · 19/08/2025 13:59

So, looking within 30 miles of Newcastle, there are more 3-4 bed houses over £500k on Rightmove than there are under £500k.

You would be able to afford a £500k house on the salary of a plumber and a nurse, assuming they are not FTBs (and FTBs do not usually buy 4 bedroom family houses). That doesn’t seem particularly wealthy to me.

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Well you are assuming equity then? How much? If so that is wealth development is it not? Free money?

Im not quite sure why there is such a resistance to considering that someone who can buy a property for 500k is doing ok, is well off. Thats a simple fact surely

Unless they are gifted the money and are living on benefits and cant afford a mortgage so a parent is buying it out right for them, they have an well off income. Plumbers and nurses are not low income earners!

Plumbers in particular.

These arent Amazon execs and thats another thread entirely about how government can get money out of that level but someone buying something for that price isnt poor. Im surprised there is such upset at the suggestion!

1457bloom · 19/08/2025 14:06

If it’s based on the sale value that would deter homeowners from improving their properties which is bad news for builders.

xSideshowAuntSallyXx · 19/08/2025 14:06

Primrose86 · 19/08/2025 13:06

It will not affect 80% of the population and 50% of the homeowners in london based on the 500k threshold.

It will encourage older people to downsize when they retire and younger people can buy their homes so would help younger families.

It will replace council tax and 80% of people would pay the same or less. Owners of low value properties in the north could pay as little as £800 which is fair as my friend in a 70k shared ownership flat up north is paying only £300 less than me though I own a 2 bed flat in London.

If rich people try to sell up and leave the uk, the stamp duty levied on their properties will at least provide a source of revenue. Also the £20 million houses in my postcode on bishops avenue will be charged £156k annual property tax which would be great for my council. They currently only pay £4k per annum which is an actual joke when they pay far more for their private security!

I hope labour cam try to rush it through before the end of this Parliament.

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Why should older people downsize? I see this on here all the time.

My parents live in a 5 bed house, they use all those rooms. They don't live in one room. They
have visitors to stay, hobbies which they do in some of the rooms. Why should people in their 70s and 80s go through the stress of moving to make their home available for a family who most of the time won't be able to afford to buy it anyway.

This obsession with older people downsizing is bizarre and it is only ever old people expected to downsize.

I live alone in a 2 bed flat. Should I downsize as well? Should my neighbour too? A family could live in it.

Mrsbloggz · 19/08/2025 14:07

There is no pain free way to deflate the housing bubble 😬

Climbingrosexx · 19/08/2025 14:08

soupyspoon · 19/08/2025 13:52

Oh Im against myself now!

How funny.

I have consistently used the phrase well off. You used the words wealthy to refer to the 500k property.

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Because wealth is the comment I was originally responding to (which i dont think was yours btw)! I don't see how you have anything more to add

soupyspoon · 19/08/2025 14:08

xSideshowAuntSallyXx · 19/08/2025 14:06

Why should older people downsize? I see this on here all the time.

My parents live in a 5 bed house, they use all those rooms. They don't live in one room. They
have visitors to stay, hobbies which they do in some of the rooms. Why should people in their 70s and 80s go through the stress of moving to make their home available for a family who most of the time won't be able to afford to buy it anyway.

This obsession with older people downsizing is bizarre and it is only ever old people expected to downsize.

I live alone in a 2 bed flat. Should I downsize as well? Should my neighbour too? A family could live in it.

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Yes you should move into a bedsit!!!

And share it for good measure!

Escapefrom1984 · 19/08/2025 14:08

I can’t see Keir Starmer introducing this.

His constituency must have one of the highest number of properties in the £500k+ bracket. Currently on rightmove the only properties less than £500k in Camden are 1 bed flats. All home-owning families in his constituency would be affected. So he’d be penalising a huge chunk of his electorate.
As Sir Humphrey would have said, that would be “brave”.

soupyspoon · 19/08/2025 14:10

Escapefrom1984 · 19/08/2025 14:08

I can’t see Keir Starmer introducing this.

His constituency must have one of the highest number of properties in the £500k+ bracket. Currently on rightmove the only properties less than £500k in Camden are 1 bed flats. All home-owning families in his constituency would be affected. So he’d be penalising a huge chunk of his electorate.
As Sir Humphrey would have said, that would be “brave”.

Edited

Not everyone votes for their own self interest though

It would affect me by proxy due to my parents house. I would support it

Although only if it actually brought in more money, which on the scant details of the half baked idea put out, may not actually do that.

If it doesnt increase the tax take then it will cost a bomb to implement and be a waste of time and money

SpaceRaccoon · 19/08/2025 14:10

You can't answer the question, can you? Why shouldn't tax be paid on money which is unearned?

But on the flipside, why should it?

Comefromaway · 19/08/2025 14:13

SpaceRaccoon · 19/08/2025 14:10

You can't answer the question, can you? Why shouldn't tax be paid on money which is unearned?

But on the flipside, why should it?

Because

We need to collect taxes to provide for society whether that be the NHS, education, the disabled, etc etc
Because at the moment young people like my dd will never be able to afford to buy a property as prices have risen at a ridiculous rate. Something is needed to slow that rate down.

SpaceRaccoon · 19/08/2025 14:16

We need to collect taxes to provide for society whether that be the NHS, education, the disabled, etc etc
Because at the moment young people like my dd will never be able to afford to buy a property as prices have risen at a ridiculous rate. Something is needed to slow that rate down

So someone should get unearned income, just not the original owner.

I'm kind of playing devil's advocate but honestly, "fair share" gets treated like a law of nature. Maybe a welfare state isn't the best way to run a country though.

nearlylovemyusername · 19/08/2025 14:18

DrPrunesqualer · 19/08/2025 13:46

The article states it would take a second term of Labour to work through

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😂

Means unlikely to be this century

Primrose86 · 19/08/2025 14:18

xSideshowAuntSallyXx · 19/08/2025 14:06

Why should older people downsize? I see this on here all the time.

My parents live in a 5 bed house, they use all those rooms. They don't live in one room. They
have visitors to stay, hobbies which they do in some of the rooms. Why should people in their 70s and 80s go through the stress of moving to make their home available for a family who most of the time won't be able to afford to buy it anyway.

This obsession with older people downsizing is bizarre and it is only ever old people expected to downsize.

I live alone in a 2 bed flat. Should I downsize as well? Should my neighbour too? A family could live in it.

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They don't need to downsize if they can afford to pay the property tax. If they can't afford it then they should sell up.

There is a shortage of family sized homes on the market and why should the taxpayer subsidize the widow in a 5 bed house still demanding the government pay her the winter fuel allowance if she can't afford to pay her fair share in property tax. Her home has probably multiplied in value and the gains untaxed.

soupyspoon · 19/08/2025 14:19

Comefromaway · 19/08/2025 14:13

Because

We need to collect taxes to provide for society whether that be the NHS, education, the disabled, etc etc
Because at the moment young people like my dd will never be able to afford to buy a property as prices have risen at a ridiculous rate. Something is needed to slow that rate down.

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I think not just that

We pay tax on income, whether earned or unearned. Ye for some reason the money we make on our houses is not taxed. Im not sure I understand why. What is the argument for that if not just to keep house prices going up?

LittlePigRobinson · 19/08/2025 14:21

I've just been listening to a discussion on Radio 2 about this suggestion. Apparently it wouldn't affect anyone who has already paid SD until they move so I can't see how that is going to encourage anyone to move house. It would definitely put me off.
We paid 12k 20 years ago. If we moved and had to pay say 3k pa tax instead of another lump sum in SD we could be paying that 3k pa for the next 30 years which is 90k in tax !!!!

MyNameIsX · 19/08/2025 14:21

Primrose86 · 19/08/2025 14:18

They don't need to downsize if they can afford to pay the property tax. If they can't afford it then they should sell up.

There is a shortage of family sized homes on the market and why should the taxpayer subsidize the widow in a 5 bed house still demanding the government pay her the winter fuel allowance if she can't afford to pay her fair share in property tax. Her home has probably multiplied in value and the gains untaxed.

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Quite so.

The selfish witch should be driven out of her family home - doubtless where she has enjoyed many happy memories with her departed beloved husband. Moreover, her house should be demolished, the plot bulldozed and xx number of rabbit hutches should be built in its place.

That’ll teach her.

nearlylovemyusername · 19/08/2025 14:22

Escapefrom1984 · 19/08/2025 14:08

I can’t see Keir Starmer introducing this.

His constituency must have one of the highest number of properties in the £500k+ bracket. Currently on rightmove the only properties less than £500k in Camden are 1 bed flats. All home-owning families in his constituency would be affected. So he’d be penalising a huge chunk of his electorate.
As Sir Humphrey would have said, that would be “brave”.

Edited

Oh, that's really funny. So he could lose his seat...

Escapefrom1984 · 19/08/2025 14:22

soupyspoon · 19/08/2025 14:10

Not everyone votes for their own self interest though

It would affect me by proxy due to my parents house. I would support it

Although only if it actually brought in more money, which on the scant details of the half baked idea put out, may not actually do that.

If it doesnt increase the tax take then it will cost a bomb to implement and be a waste of time and money

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The whole “Ming vase” strategy of the Labour govt’s manifesto was based on the fact that all the focus groups showed that people in general do vote for their own self interest.

Otherwise there could have been an honest manifesto where they laid out their plans to improve public services through increases in taxation - on the taxes that raise large sums, namely income tax, VAT and employees’ NI. We - and the govt finances and public services - would be in a much better position if they had done that.

It’s lovely that you aren’t self-interested, but you are not the average voter.

As should be clear from this thread, with few exceptions, those affected don’t want this and those who are not affected do.

”Do it to Julia”. Over and over and over again.