“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

Estate Agent Talk

Why Cases Stall in Summer and What Agents Can Do About It

By Cara Stanbridge, Head of Relationship Management at Nova Conveyancing Every year, we hear talk of the summer slowdown. But from what I see working closely with agents, conveyancers and clients, the issue isn’t usually a lack of activity. More often, it’s keeping transactions moving when everyone involved is juggling higher workloads, holidays and competing…
Read More
small house bird box
Breaking News

Britain’s property hotspots revealed

The Scottish city where houses sell fastest – and the town where it takes SIX TIMES as long to sell your home Homes in Glasgow sell three times faster than the UK average – making the Scottish city the fastest selling in Britain Wakefield is the slowest-selling city in Britain, with homes spending twice as…
Read More
Breaking News

Breaking Property News 13/8/26

Daily bite-sized proptech and property news in partnership with Proptech-X.   The average age of tenants living in shared houses in the UK is now 35   Thought leadership by Adam Pigott CEO of tlyfe (Openbrix)   “The headline figure that tenants are now in their mid 30’s and still have to share facilities, not even have the…
Read More
Breaking News

Stamp Duty receipts remain above pre-pandemic norms

The latest research from Yopa has revealed that, despite continued speculation surrounding a slowdown in the housing market, Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) receipts remain comfortably above pre-pandemic levels, demonstrating the resilience of buyer activity in recent years. Yopa analysed monthly Stamp Duty Land Tax receipts published by HM Revenue & Customs between January 2018 and…
Read More
Estate Agent Talk

The summer improvements that could add value to your house

The latest research from Yopa has revealed which summer-inspired home improvements could add the most value to your property once the cost of carrying out the work itself has been taken into account, with a summer house potentially boosting the value of the average UK home by almost £8,000. Yopa analysed a range of popular…
Read More
AI in estate agency letting agency property
Estate Agent Talk

Turning anxiety into advantage: how SMEs can make AI work for them

By Johann Aguirre, founder of Cachi AI   According to the Office for National Statistics, AI adoption among UK businesses has risen from approximately 12% to around 35% since late 2023. However, adoption levels differ considerably depending on the size of a business and the sector in which it operates. Larger, established organisations may be…
Read More