Satellite imaging could be used to identify homes to be clobbered with Labour’s new ‘mansion tax’.
Valuers with access to ‘spy in the sky’ technology are being tasked with tracking down high-value properties.
The prospect has sparked anger from critics who warned that ‘Big Brother snoopers’ are likely to cast their net much wider than the very top end of the market.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced in the Budget that said she is introducing a council tax ‘surcharge’ in England for homes worth £2million or more.
There will be four price bands with the annual fee starting at £2,500 for properties worth more than £2million.
It will rise to £7,500 for properties worth more than £5million. The charge will sit on top of usual council tax and will be applied to property owners, rather than tenants.
Ahead of the ‘mansion tax’ being imposed from April 2028, officials will conduct a ‘targeted valuation exercise’ to discover which homes are worth £2million and over.
Valuers with access to ‘spy in the sky’ technology are being tasked with tracking down high-value properties
Revaluations will then be conducted every five years, as Ms Reeves looks to rake in more than £400million a year from the levy on family homes.
However, there are questions about how the Valuation Office, which maintains lists of council tax bands for 26.8 million properties, will undertake the work.
Council tax bands in England are still based on property values in 1991, more than 30 years ago, because there has not been a major revaluation since council tax was first introduced.
Local authority planning websites are thought to have been examined as part of a revaluation in Wales – also conducted by the VOA – suggesting homeowners who have spent large sums on extensions or swimming pools could be punished.
Shadow business minister Harriett Baldwin told the Telegraph there would ‘definitely be privacy issues around this’ which were ‘very concerning’.
Shadow housing secretary James Cleverly told the Daily Mail: ‘Labour’s new family homes tax is another attack on aspiration.
‘They will now be priming an army of clipboard-wielding tax inspectors to spy on people’s homes to levy this new tax.
‘But no-one should believe that Labour will stop at bigger homes.
‘As with Labour’s past tax hikes on pensions and stamp duty, they will be unable to resist widening the tax net.
‘I fear more and more homes are going to face the Big Brother snoopers. Only the Conservatives can be trusted to keep down tax on the family home.’
A VOA spokeswoman said: ‘We are developing our approach and will set out more details in due course, following the outcome of the government’s consultation.
‘For domestic valuations we typically use sales data, property attribute details and government records. We also inspect properties where needed.
‘We employ professional valuers, and use industry standard techniques and modern technology to assist us.’
