Deputy prime minister Nick Clegg has today floated the idea of setting higher council tax bands for properties worth more than £2m.
The Liberal Democrat leader’s proposal is offered as an alternative to his party’s longstanding call for an annual ‘mansion tax’ of 1% to be levied on luxury homes.
Clegg suggested the Government could introduce new council tax bands for high-end residences and integrate collection into the existing tax system.
‘Right now there are properties for sale for tens of millions of pounds around Regents Park,’ said Clegg. ‘Whoever buys them will pay the same in council tax as a family living in a three bed semi in Lewisham.’
‘Both of these options are based on a very simple principle: that we should ask a small number of very wealthy individuals to make a reasonable contribution, in order to provide desperately needed help for millions of ordinary people,’ Clegg added.
Clegg was speaking on the day the three-week campaign for the Eastliegh by-election began – a contest sparked by former Coalition energy secretary Chris Huhne’s decision to resign as an MP earlier this week.
Huhne, a former leadership rival of Clegg’s, pleaded guilty on Monday to perverting the course of justice in a case where his ex-wife, Vicky Pryce, took speeding points on his behalf.
