High Value Council Tax Surcharge · England · from April 2028
Will your home be caught by the mansion tax?
At the Budget on 28 October 2026 the government confirmed that owners of homes in England valued at £2 million or more in April 2026 will pay a new yearly charge on top of their council tax from April 2028: the High Value Council Tax Surcharge. The threshold stays at £2m, and the rules are now going through Parliament in the Finance Bill 2026-27. For a home near one of the lines, the Valuation Office's decision is worth thousands of pounds a year.
- £2m
- The threshold confirmed at the Budget, judged on the home's value in April 2026
- £2,500 to £7,500
- A year, in four bands, rising with CPI inflation from 2029/30
- 165,000
- Homes the Office for Budget Responsibility expects to pay in 2028/29
- £248,000
- What a £5m+ home could pay over 20 years if rates increase by inflation (5% a year). An illustration, not a forecast
Confirmed at the Budget. Not law until the Finance Bill is passed, with some detail still to come in regulations. What the Budget changed
Not a tax dodge
The right amount, and not a penny more than the law requires
Mansion Taxes is not a tax avoidance service. We do not help anyone hide a home's value or look for ways round the rules. If your home was worth £2m or more in 2026, you should pay what the law says you owe.
What we do is make sure you are not dragged into paying more than you legally should. The charge rests on a valuation, and a valuation built from records and automated models can be wrong: an out-of-date floor area, a missed defect, a short lease, a sale that is not truly comparable. Putting that right is not avoidance. It is the process the rules set out for every owner, through the Valuation Office and, if needed, the Valuation Tribunal for England.
If the evidence says your band is right, we will tell you so.
The timetable
The value that counts is the one your home had in 2026
Nothing is billed until 2028, but the Valuation Office will judge each home as it stood in 2026. Evidence of size, condition and comparable sales is easiest to gather while that year is still recent.
- 2026Homes are valued as at April 2026. The Budget on 28 October confirmed the design, and the Finance Bill 2026-27 will put it into law.
- Autumn 2027The Valuation Office publishes a draft list. Owners can ask it to correct factual mistakes.
- March 2028Councils send the first surcharge bills.
- April 2028The surcharge starts. Payments run monthly over 12 months, or 10 on request.
- 8 monthsThe first window to challenge a band. Appeals then go to the Valuation Tribunal.
The four bands
A step, not a slope
The charge jumps at each line. A home valued at £1.99m pays nothing, while one at £2m pays £2,500 a year. Crossing £2.5m adds another £1,000, crossing £3.5m another £1,500 and crossing £5m another £2,500.
And it keeps coming. The charge rises with inflation every year, so if inflation averages 5% a year the lowest band adds up to about £82,700 over 20 years and the top band to about £248,000. At the 2% inflation target the figures would be about £60,700 and £182,200. These are illustrations, not forecasts.
So the question for most owners is not only whether they are in, but how close they sit to the line below.
| 2026 value | A year | About a month (12 payments) |
|---|---|---|
| £2m to £2.5m | £2,500 | £208 |
| £2.5m to £3.5m | £3,500 | £292 |
| £3.5m to £5m | £5,000 | £417 |
| £5m and above | £7,500 | £625 |
Charges confirmed at the Budget on 28 October 2026 and being legislated in the Finance Bill 2026-27, so not yet law. They rise each year with CPI inflation from 2029/30. Monthly figures are rounded; the consultation proposed 12 monthly instalments, or 10 on request.
| 2026 value | First year | 20 years at 2% a year | 20 years at 5% a year |
|---|---|---|---|
| £2m to £2.5m | £2,500 | £60,743 | £82,665 |
| £2.5m to £3.5m | £3,500 | £85,041 | £115,731 |
| £3.5m to £5m | £5,000 | £121,487 | £165,330 |
| £5m and above | £7,500 | £182,230 | £247,995 |
Illustration only, not a forecast. Assumes the home stays in the same band from 2028/29 and the charge rises each year by the rate shown: 2% is the Bank of England inflation target, 5% a higher-inflation case. Revaluations every five years could move a home between bands, and money paid in later years is worth less in today's terms.
Where a review earns its keep
Most homes will be valued by a model. Unusual ones are where it goes wrong.
The Valuation Office plans to value around 165,000 homes from sales data, property records and automated models, with valuers stepping in for unusual properties. Home visits are expected only as a last resort. That works for a typical flat in a block with plenty of recent sales. It works less well for:
- homes within about 10% of £2m, £2.5m, £3.5m or £5m
- one-off houses, listed buildings and homes with few true comparables
- homes whose records are out of date after an extension, a conversion or a change of lease
- homes with problems a model cannot see, such as structural defects, noise, poor access or overlooking
We look at the likely 2026 value with a qualified tax adviser and property surveyor, assemble the comparable evidence, and keep it ready for when the draft list appears.
How a valuation review works
Our fees
Most of our fee is paid only if your band comes down
- First consultation: free.
- Band check: £395, from sales of similar homes, credited against our success fee.
- Success fee: 40% of the first two years' saving, only if the band comes down. Nothing after that.
- Independent valuation: at cost, only where one is needed and you agree first.
A band normally holds for five years, so our fee comes to less than a fifth of the saving and you keep the rest. The example shows a £3m house the Valuation Office places one band too high: the owner saves £1,500 a year, pays us £1,200 and keeps £6,300 over five years.
You can also challenge a band yourself. We expect that to be free, as it is for council tax.
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Band it is placed in | £3.5m to £5m, £5,000 a year |
| Band it should be in | £2.5m to £3.5m, £3,500 a year |
| Saving | £1,500 a year, £7,500 over five years |
| Band check | £395, credited against the success fee |
| Success fee | 40% of two years' saving, £1,200 |
| Total you pay us | £1,200 |
| You keep | £6,300 over five years |
An illustration, not a forecast, using first-year charges before CPI uprating. It assumes the lower band holds for the five years of bills before the 2033 revaluation. If the Valuation Office has the band right, we tell you after the band check and the most you pay is £395.
Who pays
The owner pays, not the person living there
That is the reverse of council tax, which usually falls on the occupier, and it is the part of the rules that surprises people most.
- Owner-occupiersPay the surcharge on top of their council tax.
- LandlordsPay it. Ordinary council tax stays with whoever is liable now, usually the tenant.
- LeaseholdersPay it where the lease was first granted for more than 21 years, the usual position for flats.
- Joint ownersAre each liable for the whole amount.
- TrusteesPay it for homes held in trust.
- CompaniesPay it. Deferral is tested on a household, so a company is unlikely to qualify.
- Overseas ownersPay it like anyone else. The Budget ruled out an extra charge for non-residents.
- Empty homesA 100% premium doubles the surcharge where the home has been substantially unfurnished and unoccupied for 12 months or more. The empty homes premium
Guides
Straight answers to the questions owners ask
- What is the High Value Council Tax Surcharge?
The charge in plain English, and what is still to come.
- When does the mansion tax start?
From the 2026 valuation to the first bills and the challenge window.
- What if my home is worth just over £2m?
Why the threshold matters most, and what to gather now.
- Does the mansion tax replace council tax?
No. How the two charges sit side by side.
- Do trusts and companies pay?
Trustees and companies are in scope as legal owners.
- Do overseas owners pay?
The charge follows the property, not where the owner lives.
- Second homes and let property
Why landlords and second home owners pay it too.
- What if house prices fall?
Bands are fixed on 2026 values until the 2033 revaluation.
- Worked examples
Four illustrative homes, and where a review would and would not help.
Last checked against the government's Budget documents and consultation response on 30 October 2026. The surcharge is being legislated in the Finance Bill 2026-27 and is not yet law. Some detail is still to come in regulations.
Find out where your home is likely to land
Tell us about the property. We will tell you whether a review is worthwhile before any work starts, and what it would involve.