Richmond Council say "thousands" of households in the borough are at risk of being pulled into the Government's 'mansion tax' under reports ministers are considering lowering the threshold from £2 million to £1.5 million.

Emerging reports suggest the Treasury is looking at widening the High Value Council Tax Surcharge ahead of the Budget, a move that according to the Council would see around 4,300 more Richmond homes face the charge.

This would take the number of homes impacted across the borough to 9,200.

Councillor Gareth Roberts, Leader of Richmond Council, said: "Lowering the threshold from £2 million to £1.5 million would drag thousands more Richmond homes into an already unfair tax that would take money out of our borough and send it straight to the Treasury.

"Many of those homes are ordinary family houses in areas where prices have risen sharply over many years. Their owners are not responsible for the Government's budget shortfall, and they should not be seen as an easy target just because of their postcode.

"Our residents are already facing a £102 million funding hit over the next four years. A mansion tax, whether the threshold is £2 million or £1.5 million, would be another deeply unfair raid on our residents who are already being asked to shoulder far more than their fair share.

"The Government must rethink this policy before it does real damage to our community.

"Richmond will not stay silent while our residents are used to plug a hole in the national finances."

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Richmond Council has repeatedly warned that the mansion tax would disproportionately hit London boroughs, where high property values often reflect decades of house price inflation rather than exceptional wealth.

Previous analysis showed that more than half of the revenue from the current £2 million threshold would come from just four London boroughs, underlining how heavily the policy falls on a small number of local areas.

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