London accounted for 67% of England's £2m-plus home sales

The numbers

Source: House of Commons Library, from HM Land Registry sales data. Sales show where £2m homes change hands. They are a guide to where homes in scope sit, not a count of them.

London's 6,057 sales were 67% of the national total. Cities of London and Westminster made up 12% on its own and Kensington and Bayswater 11%, so two central London constituencies account for almost a quarter of England's £2m+ sales. The Office for Budget Responsibility expects around 165,000 homes to pay in 2028/29 nationally, so London owners are likely to make up the bulk of those bills.

The £1.5m scenario

In September 2026 press reports said the Treasury was considering a £1.5m threshold. It did not happen: the Budget on 28 October 2026 confirmed the threshold at £2m. The estimates below are kept only as a record of what was reported for that scenario. They do not apply. At the time, estate agents Hamptons estimated that around half of all homes in Kensington and Chelsea would have paid at £1.5m.

Source: Tax Policy Associates, as reported by the Evening Standard on 21 September 2026. Its model works from Land Registry sales, so it misses homes that have not sold since 1995 and is likely to understate the numbers. Estimates from other firms differ.

What makes London different

Flats in scope

Outside London, most £2m homes tend to be houses. In central London a great many are flats and maisonettes. Flats are in scope in exactly the same way, and where the lease was first granted for more than 21 years the leaseholder pays, not the freeholder.

Mansion blocks and conversions

Two flats in the same mansion block can differ widely in value by floor, outlook, ceiling height and condition. Period houses converted into flats, or flats knocked back together, are easy for records to get wrong. Both are classic cases for checking the facts.

Short leases

A lease with few years left can take a great deal off a flat's value. If the Valuation Office has not allowed for a short lease as it stood in 2026, the band may be too high.

Basements and extensions

London's basement conversions and rear extensions add floor area that records may or may not reflect. Where they add value, the list should show it. Where the space is less useful than its size suggests, that matters too.

The boroughs most exposed

Prime central and south-west London carries most of the weight: Westminster, including Mayfair, Marylebone and St John's Wood; Kensington and Chelsea; Camden, including Hampstead; Hammersmith and Fulham; Wandsworth; and Richmond upon Thames. Pockets of Islington, Barnet and Hackney will also have homes near or above the line.

In these areas the question for many owners is not whether they pay, but which band they land in. A Kensington house at £3.4m and one at £3.6m sit either side of a £1,500 a year line.

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.