Do overseas owners pay the mansion tax?

Yes. The surcharge attaches to homes in England worth £2m or more, and the owner pays wherever they live. The government considered an extra charge for owners based abroad and decided against it at the Budget on 28 October 2026.

Why overseas owners are in scope

The test is about the property, not the person: is the home in England, and was it worth £2m or more in 2026? If so, the legal owner is liable, whether that is an individual, trustees or a company, in the UK or elsewhere.

No premium for non-residents

The consultation looked at the effect of overseas ownership on housing in high-pressure areas such as London and asked whether owners who are not UK resident should pay a premium. In its response, published at the Budget on 28 October 2026, the government decided not to bring one in, pointing to the practical difficulty of enforcing it. It chose a premium on empty homes instead.

Empty homes pay double

A home left substantially unfurnished and unoccupied for 12 months or more pays a 100% premium, which doubles the surcharge. That applies to every owner, but it matters most to overseas buyers who hold a £2m flat empty as an investment. A top band home would pay £15,000 a year instead of £7,500. The start date and any exceptions are still to be set out in the legislation and regulations. See the empty homes premium for what owners can do, including live-in caretakers.

Practical points from abroad

• Bills will come from the local council. Make sure the council and your managing agent have a current correspondence address.
• If the home is let, you pay the surcharge and your tenant usually pays council tax. Budget for it in the rent.
• Deferral is tested on the household living in the home, so it is unlikely to help an owner who does not live there.
• The windows to correct the draft list and to challenge a band are short. Owners overseas are easy to miss, so it is worth having someone in the UK watching for the draft list in autumn 2027. Owners who do not answer a Valuation Office request for information within 21 days face a penalty of 10% of a year's charge, rising to 30% after a further 21 days.

Many overseas-owned £2m homes are in central London, where flats and mansion blocks are common and records are often out of date. See London.

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.