“Scaremongering” accusation by Labour

Kerb appeal

It would appear that Sadiq Khan from the Labour party  has attacked Knight Frank, a firm of estate agents, for apparently sending out printed material to homeowners, highlighting the “threat” of a mansion tax before the election, the shadow London minister and shadow justice secretary  accused the firm of  “scaremongering”, arguing that it was an attempt by a private company to influence the results of the election.

There has been a pre election pledge by Labour to impose a levy on all homes worth more than £2m to raise cash for the NHS,  conservatives are opposed to any higher value property tax.  It has been reported that the letter sent out by Knght Frank does not urge voters to choose any particular party but suggests people may be thinking about their financial position with the election coming up, and includes a report setting out the possible implications for high-value house prices.

Sadiq Khan a possible  frontrunner to be Labour’s London mayoral candidate, was also reported as saying  “Estate agents are one of few professions trusted less than politicians, and I am shocked that Knight Frank think it is acceptable to scaremonger like this.”

Knight Frank replied to the comments by saying they were simply providing voters with a factual assessment of what the mansion tax would do, they went on to say
there had been lots of inquiries from clients and members of the public about what the mansion tax might mean for them, they said “What we’ve put together is a document that tries to understand what the tax is and how it might work.” He also went on to say it was not a political campaign and the estate agent was neutral on the idea of a proposed tax”

 

Allen Walkey

Highly experienced businessman with a successful career in property sales and investment both in the UK and abroad. Now a freelance writer and blogger for the property and Investment Industry, keeping readers up-to-date with changes and events in a rapidly changing world.

You May Also Enjoy

Breaking News

Housing Insight Report: June 2026

June’s housing market remained active, but buyers and renters continued to show caution. Buyer registrations dipped, while sales agreed remained broadly stable. In lettings, demand continued to outstrip supply, with nine applicants per available property. The average number of new prospective buyers registered per member branch dipped during June 2026, with an average of 55.…
Read More
Breaking News

Private rent and house prices, UK: August 2026

Main points Average UK monthly private rent increased by 3.7%, to £1,393, in the 12 months to July 2026 (provisional estimate); this annual growth rate is up from 3.3% in the 12 months to June 2026. Average rents increased to £1,451 (3.8%) in England, £843 (4.5%) in Wales, and £1,016 (1.7%) in Scotland, in the…
Read More
Breaking News

Scrapping Stamp Duty could unlock 300,000 extra home moves a year

Economic growth in key regions, such as around Cambridge and the ‘tech corridor’ being held back by stagnant housing market. Rathbones argues that a more mobile housing market could help unlock part of the UK’s £5.5 trillion housing wealth.   Reforming Britain’s property tax system could unlock more than 300,000 additional housing transactions each year…
Read More
new build home fronts
Breaking News

New-build property across Great Britain increased in price

The average house price for a new-build property across Great Britain increased to £501,658 in July 2026. The West Midlands recorded the largest average price increase, with the average new-build house price rising to £418,281 in July 2026. Yorkshire and Humberside recorded the smallest average increase, with the average house price rising to £347,846 in…
Read More
Breaking News

Where London leavers are paying a premium for green space

New research from UK Property Development (UKPD shows that Essex, Kent and Hertfordshire command the highest green space premiums among London’s commuter counties, with homebuyers paying a premium of up to 15.3% to live within a stone’s throw of public green space.   UKPD has compared the average asking price of properties for sale within…
Read More
Breaking News

Breaking Property News 18/8/26

Daily bite-sized proptech and property news in partnership with Proptech-X.   Removing inefficiency that comes from humans having to understand where every piece of information lives   Thought Leadership by Fredérick Wakim, Founder of ImmoAdmin “For most of the software era, making a property management platform better meant adding something to it. Another dashboard. Another…
Read More