Hayek for the win. Again.

Leasehold properties worth less than £2m risk being caught up in Labour’s so-called “mansion tax” raid, it has been revealed.

Homeowners whose property’s true value is below the threshold for the council tax surcharge because the lease length is shorter than 80 years could still be liable for bills of £2,500 a year from 2028.

A revaluation of properties to determine whether they exceeded the £2m threshold will not take short leases into account. Instead, it will assume that all leases have 99 years left.

Economies are such complex things that it’s just not possible for the centre - even when setting tax policies! - to know what a flat is worth.

That idea of the social panopticon that can plan out how everything should be made, should be distributed and at what price is taking another beating, no?

Tim Worstall