Britain’s Chancellor Rachel Reeves is preparing to unveil a new levy on expensive properties in her annual budget later this month, according to the Telegraph.
The budget, set for November 26, is expected to raise tens of billions of pounds to keep fiscal targets on track. The report follows a surge in government borrowing costs and a major policy reversal: Reeves no longer intends to raise income tax, citing improved fiscal forecasts.
Hundreds of thousands of high-value homes—primarily in London and the southeast—would be affected by the levy. A finance ministry spokesperson declined to comment, saying the department would not address “speculation around changes to tax outside of fiscal events.”
The government plans to use the existing council tax system to revalue 2.4 million properties in bands F, G, and H over the coming years. A separate surcharge would then be added to bills for around 300,000 of the most valuable homes within those bands, the Telegraph reported.