Mansion Tax Was Only Ever Suggested To Test The Water Says Leading Property Lawyer

Senior Partner and leading property lawyer John Stephenson of Bircham Dyson Bell LLP believes that the 'mansion tax' which was originally in the Lib Dem election manifesto but not adopted in the coalition agreement, was only floated by the Government to test the water and gauge reaction, and was never a serious Government strategy.

"It's such an impractical way of taxing people that I just don't believe it was ever really a serious consideration for the Government," explains John Stephenson.

"It would have given any political party, pledging to ban it in the future, swathes of votes especially in the Home Counties - and could easily have tipped the balance in any election.

"It would have been completely impossible to implement and monitor fairly, vastly costly in terms of appeals where the value was close to the threshold, and there would have been endless arguments over the valuation of properties and what the proper indexation provision should be.

"And of course, some...