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TODAY'S OTHER NEWS

‘Mansion tax threat had no bearing over £24m sale’

One of London’s biggest property sales of the year so far completed a few weeks before last month’s election, despite fears at the time of a potential mansion tax.

The agent that orchestrated the £24 million deal – Marsh & Parsons – says it is one of the highest prices ever to be achieved in Notting Hill. 

The property, an unmodernised end-of-terrace goliath on Kensington Park Gardens, is one of the largest and most impressive to be sold in the area in recent times, according to Marsh & Parsons.

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At asking price, the new owners would have had to pay almost £3 million in stamp duty fees under the new rates announced by George Osborne last December.

Marsh & Parsons says there were high levels of uncertainty surrounding a potential mansion tax in the first few months of the year. Particularly at the very top of the market as neither Labour nor The Liberal Democrats set out clearly what the levy would be on properties worth over £5 million.

“While top end activity was subdued in the run up to the election we conducted several high value sales with buyers whose desire to own the right home outweighed their concern for future property regulation,” says Keith Gorny, Director of Marsh & Parsons Prime Sales.
 
“An important house of this calibre is rare to the market – one might not come along again for several years. As a result, the property attracted considerable domestic and international attention, and the final price achieved is an encouraging vote of confidence in the Prime London Housing Market’s medium to long term prospects.” 

He adds that prime buyers are learning to live with the new higher stamp duty costs above £937,000 and that property in Prime Central London remains highly sought-after.

Over the weekend, Labour’s new shadow chancellor, Chris Leslie, told the Guardian that he felt the principle of Labour’s proposed mansion tax was ‘fine’ but that the details of the policy were ‘too sketchy’.

Leslie also gave his thoughts on a crack down on letting agents as well as the idea of rent controls, both of which were proposed by Labour before the general election. 

You can read about the shadow chancellor’s views in today’s edition of Letting Agent Today

  • Rob  Davies

    Am I the only one who finds this obscene?

  • Jon  Tarrey

    The mere fact a house can sell for £24m in London tells you all you need to know about where we're heading. It's a ludicrous, mind-boggling amount of money. What has it got, gold encrusted doors and handcrafted diamond kettles or something?

    And unmodernised - so not only do you have to pay £24m to buy it, you then have to spend a load more renovating it.

    Still, the buyer will probably be able to sell it for £50m to some super-rich investor in a few years. Tidy little profit.

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    • 02 June 2015 10:13 AM

    I agree that this is not sustainable for the long-term. But there has always been a prime Central London market, which operates on a totally different level from everything else, and probably always will be. That shouldn't skew the market as a whole.

  • Tim Gorgulu

    This top-end housing activity doesn't surprise me in the slightest. While growth is undoubtedly vital, this does seem a little ridiculous considering the property remains unmodernised!

  • Neil Briggs

    As Tom says, there will always be a high-end market. Unpalatable to some - and I'd agree that £24m is a ludicrous amount of money for a house - but if people are willing to pay these prices, then prices will continue to go up.

    Until there is a concerted effort to improve supply, this sort of thing will become more and more common.

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