Council tax, not mansion tax, is the way to address the deficit

摘要

With the cranes above the London skyline appearing ever more plentiful and the implications of party conference speeches still being debated, the assertion that regulators or politicians will be the ones to bring the London property boom to an end has never seemed so predictable. Stricter lending criteria, taxation and the regulation of bankers' bonuses have already started to stunt growth in the capital's residential market. As Savills pointed out last month, prime London properties under 1,000 sq ft have risen in value by 22% since mid-2012, while those over 7,000 sq ft, where the tax burden is most significant, have seen price rises of just 3.3%.