Westminster City Council is looking to raise up to £2.6m a year through a voluntary “community contribution” for owners of properties in the borough valued at more than £10m.
Speaking to EG at the Conservative Party conference in Manchester, leader Nickie Aiken said the “bold” move would double the council tax bills of around 2,000 owners of £10m-plus properties in Westminster.
Currently paying £1,300 a year in council tax band H, these property owners would be asked to pay an additional £1,300 annually.
“£2,600 is not a huge amount of money for somebody in a £10m-plus home,” she said. “We have come about this because we have been asked by some of our wealthier residents why can’t you put council tax up higher. We don’t want to make everybody across the economic divide pay more but for those who are in super prime homes we are asking them to pay a tiny bit more.”
If everyone were to pay, it would raise £2.6m. “We are going out to consultation now,” she said. “We are going to ask a great number of them and explain why.”
Aiken said she had been in talks with the government about the scheme for some time but recognised it was unrealistic to expect the government to prioritise legislation to make such a scheme mandatory.
“What we are hoping to be able to do is prove to them there is an appetite among the wealthier residents of Westminster that they want to pay more and then we will go back to government,” she said. “We don’t know whether it’s going to work or not but its changing the conversation and changing the debate. It’s not fair that somebody living in a £10m, £15m or £20m home is paying the same as someone living in a £500,000-£600,000 home and things have got to change.”
Aiken said relations with the property industry were changing. At the London Real Estate Forum in June she warned: “There is no more time for cosy chats. Too many times we have not pushed back hard enough on the delivery of affordable housing. Things need to change and to do so now.”
Since then she said there had been signs of greater engagement from developers in the borough but warned it was a long project. “I am convinced we will see a difference in the next five years,” she said.
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