By Teresa J Payne

There’s a quiet anxiety running through conversations with our clients lately.

It’s not just about interest rates or house prices; it’s about something deeper: the fear that the government is about to change the rules on what it means to own a home.

The proposed mansion tax, expected in the Autumn Budget, is being pitched as a fair way to raise revenue from those who can afford it. On paper, it will target homes worth over £2 million.

But in practice, it risks sweeping up thousands of ordinary families, pensioners, and professionals, especially in London and the Southeast, who never saw themselves as wealthy.

As a solicitor and law firm director advising clients across London and the Southeast, I’ve sat with clients who bought modest homes decades ago, often stretching themselves to do so.

Today, those same homes have crossed the £2 million mark, not because of lavish upgrades or speculative investment, but because........

© LBC