High Value Council Tax Surcharge and homes over £2 million

What is the High Value Council Tax Surcharge?

At the Autumn Budget 2025, the Chancellor announced that the government would be introducing a High Value Council Tax Surcharge (HVCTS) from April 2028. The surcharge will affect properties valued at £2 million or more in England (in 2026 prices) and will apply at a flat rate of:

• £2,500 a year on properties valued between £2 million and £2.5 million
• £3,500 a year on properties valued between £2.5 million and £3.5 million
• £5,000 a year on properties valued between £3.5 million and £5 million
• £7,500 a year on properties valued at over £5 million.

The surcharge will be applicable to owners rather than occupiers, and the government estimates it will raise around £430 million of revenue per year from 2028/29.

The Valuation Office Agency (VOA) will conduct a targeted valuation exercise to identify properties in scope. In March 2026 the government explained the VOA is “developing its approach” and “will set out more details in due course, alongside the government's consultation in 2026.”

More information on the surcharge can be found in the Commons Library briefing on the High Value Council Tax Surcharge (HVCTS).

How many properties will be affected?

There aren’t official statistics on the value of all existing housing stock. Although some organisations have provided estimates of the number of homes valued at £2 million or more, the numbers vary.

In October 2025, the property website Zoopla estimated that there were around 160,000 homes in the UK worth £2 million or more. By contrast, in November 2025, the Financial Times reported that the estate agent Savills had estimated that there were 145,000 homes in the UK worth £2 million or more.

In guidance on the HVCTS, the Treasury said that “fewer than 1% of properties in England are expected to be above the £2 million threshold.”

In April 2026, Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) modelling estimated the number of properties in England that will be subject to the tax. The OBR estimated that around 165,000 properties will be subject to the tax in 2028/29, and 167,000 properties in 2030/31, before accounting for any behavioural impacts. The OBR suggests the behavioural impacts could include price bunching below each band boundary, non-compliance and appeals as well as supply-side responses (reduction in the delivery of high-value new builds) among others. Once the behavioural effects are considered, the OBR forecasts that the number of properties subject to the surcharge will fall to 156,000 in 2028/29, and 158,000 in 2030/31.

The OBR’s estimates are based on assumptions that some existing council tax exemptions will remain in place, as well as exemptions for Registered Social Landlords. However, the government is currently holding a consultation on the HVCTS, which includes proposals on potential exemptions. The consultation closes on 14 July.

Houses sold for over £2 million

HM Land Registry publishes Price Paid Data with information on the price paid for residential properties when they are sold and the sale is registered with the Land Registry. This provides information about the number of homes sold in an area for over £2 million over a given period.

However, it is worth noting that the figures on the number of houses sold over £2 million will likely underestimate the number of houses that will be subject to the HVCTS. Firstly, only a small subset of homes is sold during any given period. In addition, the VOA may consider the value of a property to be more (or less) than its sold-for price when it conducts its valuation exercise for the surcharge. Equally, properties valued over £2 million but sold for less than £2 million several years ago would not show up in the Land Registry data.

From January 2024 up to the latest month of data (April 2026), less than 1% of all property sales in England were for houses priced £2 million or more.

The Land Registry data shows that London had the highest number of properties sold for £2 million and over from January 2024 to April 2026 (6,057), followed by the South East region (1,585). London had more houses sold for £2 million and over than the rest of England combined. Of all houses sold for £2 million or more in England over this period, 67% were in the London region. This is illustrated in the chart below.

It takes time for transactions to be registered with the Land Registry, so sales data from more recent months is less likely to be complete.

At constituency level, the Cities of London and Westminster was the constituency with the highest number of properties sold for £2 million or more (1,037), representing 17% of such properties sold in London, and 12% of those sold in England.

Kensington and Bayswater was the constituency with the second-highest number of properties sold for £2 million or more (974), representing around 16% of such properties sold in London and 11% of those sold in England.

Yorkshire and the Humber and the North East regions contained the fewest properties sold for £2 million or more. In the North East there were 15 residential properties in this category sold since January 2024, with all sold properties residing in three of the 27 constituencies in the region:

• 10 properties were in Hexham constituency
• 4 properties were in Newcastle upon Tyne North
• 1 property was in Stockton West

The Yorkshire and the Humber region contained 65 residential properties sold for £2 million or more.

Of the 543 constituencies in England, there 207 with no registered house sales of £2 million or more since January 2024, shown in grey in the map below.

Local data

The map below shows the number of residential properties sold in England for £2 million and over from January 2024 to April 2026, where sales were registered with HM Land Registry, broken down by parliamentary constituency.

Homes sold for £2 million and above by English parliamentary constituency