The two tests
- Where
- Homes in England, houses and flats alike.
- Value
- £2 million or more at April 2026 values, as set by the Valuation Office.
- From
- April 2028, with bills from March 2028.
- On top of
- Council tax, which carries on as now.
The value is not today's price or what you paid. It is the Valuation Office's view of what the home would have sold for in 2026. Your council tax band does not decide it either: the Valuation Office is running a separate valuation exercise for the surcharge.
If you are not sure which side of £2m your home falls, the mansion tax calculator gives an indicative band from your own estimate, and flags when you are close to a line.
Who pays
The charge falls on the owner, not the occupier. That is the opposite of council tax, where the person living in the home is usually the one who pays.
Owner-occupiers
You pay the surcharge alongside your council tax. If you cannot afford it, you may be able to defer it until the home is sold.
Joint owners
Joint owners are jointly and severally liable. There is one charge per home, but the council could pursue any owner for all of it.
Leaseholders and freeholders
Where a lease was first granted for more than 21 years, or the law treats it as having been, the leaseholder pays. That covers the usual long lease on a flat. Where there is no such lease, the freeholder pays.
Landlords
If the home is let, the landlord pays the surcharge. Ordinary council tax stays with whoever is liable under the existing rules, usually the tenant but sometimes the owner, for example in some shared houses. More on this in second homes and let property.
Trusts
Trustees are liable for homes held in trust. The beneficiary who lives there is not the one billed. See do trusts and companies pay?
Companies
A company that owns a home in scope pays the surcharge. The deferral tests are applied to a household, so a company is unlikely to qualify.
Overseas owners
The surcharge follows the property, so owners living abroad are in scope in the same way. The consultation asked whether owners who are not UK resident should pay extra, and at the Budget the government decided they should not. See do overseas owners pay?
Estates
The government's response leaves probate and other complex cases to regulations, so how the surcharge works when an owner dies and the home sits in an estate is not yet set out. We will update this page when it is.
Empty homes
A home left substantially unfurnished and unoccupied for 12 months or more pays a 100% premium, which doubles the surcharge. On that wording a furnished second home would not be caught. The start date and any exceptions, for example while a home is being sold or after a death, are still to be set out. More on the empty homes premium.
Homes that are exempt
The government's response to the consultation, published at the Budget on 28 October 2026, takes these out of the surcharge altogether:
- purpose-built halls of residence mainly for students
- care homes, hospices and long-stay hospital accommodation
- Ministry of Defence barracks mainly for the armed forces or a visiting force
Homes that get a discount
These get a discount of up to 100%:
- other Ministry of Defence homes mainly for the armed forces or a visiting force
- homes owned by a foreign state mainly for its diplomats
- homes owned by a registered social housing provider
- refuges for people escaping domestic violence
- new builds still owned by the developer, until the first sale or 12 months after completion, whichever comes first
- farmhouses and farm workers' homes on working farms
- homes owned by a charity and used wholly or mainly to house people in need
There is no general discount for other homes tied to a job. The full rules, and the size of each discount, will be set out in regulations.
What to do now
If your home is anywhere near £2m, or near one of the higher lines at £2.5m, £3.5m and £5m, the most useful thing you can do this year is record how the home stood in 2026: floor area, rooms, condition, defects and the sales of similar homes nearby. That evidence is what a later challenge will rest on.
Common questions
Does the mansion tax apply in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland?
No. The High Value Council Tax Surcharge applies to homes in England only.
Is it based on what my home is worth today?
No. The test is the home's value in 2026, set by the Valuation Office. Price movements after 2026 are not expected to move a home in or out before the next revaluation in 2033, although under the proposals a significant extension or improvement would lead to a new band at the next revaluation or on sale, whichever is sooner.
I rent my home out. Who pays?
The owner pays the surcharge. Ordinary council tax stays with whoever is liable for it now, usually the tenant but sometimes the owner, for example in some shared houses.
We own the house jointly. Do we each pay?
There is one charge per home, but joint owners are jointly and severally liable, so the council could ask any one of you for the full amount.
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.