Mansion tax bracket covers only 87 homes in all of Wales

Just four houses in Wales have sold for more than £2m over the past ten years, an analysis of data from the Land Registry reveals

Just four houses in Wales have sold for more than £2m over the past ten years (Alamy)

Labour’s mansion tax would raise at most £500,000 a year across Wales – because the country has so few multimillion-pound homes.

Just four houses in Wales have sold for more than £2m over the past ten years, an analysis of data from the Land Registry reveals.

A study of estate agent data suggests that the principality has a maximum of 87 houses worth over £2m, which would be Labour’s threshold.

That would mean Wales would contribute just 0.04 per cent of the £1.2bn in revenue that shadow Chancellor Ed Balls expects from the tax.

However, because of the way in which funding is allocated to Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland under the Barnett Formula, it would disproportionately benefit those living west of the Severn.

A formula published by the Welsh Assembly suggests that Wales would get £50.78m from the new tax – 101 times more than it contributes. The Tories in Wales claimed Labour was “developing an ill-thought-out wealth tax which simply won’t work”.

One Welsh property owner who will be affected is William Hague, who revealed earlier this month he was buying a £2.5 million ten-bedroom mansion in Mid Wales where he plans to live following his retirement from politics.

The former Foreign Secretary, who is stepping down from Parliament at the general election, bought Cyfronydd Hall in Powys, which is set in nearly 13 acres of grounds, as “an ideal place to write books”.

The 10-bedroom, 10-bathroom hall went on the market with a guide price of £2.5m in 2013 and features a large orangery, a swimming pool and a fitness suite.

Labour’s mansion tax is due to pay for increased investment in the NHS. But a study last year by the online property site Zoopla revealed that the vast majority of the tax would be paid by people in London and the South-east.

According to Zoopla, there are 85,461 homes in the capital worth £2m or more and 14,261 in the South-east. Almost 96 per cent of potential mansion tax payers would be located in the South-east. Those eligible in London would be expected to pay an average annual tax of £16,799.

In Scotland, there are estimated to be around 900 properties worth over £2m that would contribute £5.5m to the new tax, which would start at £250 a month.