Labour has sparked fury after it emerged that satellites and aerial photos could be used to “spy” on homeowners as part of Rachel Reeves’s multi million pound property tax raid on England’s priciest homes.
A government quango, the Valuation Office Agency, is preparing to deploy high tech imagery to size up houses worth 2 million pounds and above, helping Labour slap a so called mansion tax on more than 140,000 properties. Some households could be hit with yearly bills of up to 7,500 pounds.
And while ministers insist it is all routine, the agency pointedly refused to deny that it will use “modern technology”, including satellite data, to pave the way for Reeves’s revenue raising raid.
SATELLITES AND SNOOPING
The VOA has already trialled its high tech methods in Wales, creating an “automated valuation model” to measure the size of homes and gardens and to check Energy Performance Certificates. That means eco upgrades such as double glazing or heat pumps, the very improvements the Government demands, could push a home into a higher tax bracket.
In Wales, the reforms were delayed until 2028 after fears that they would hammer households during the cost of living crunch. But Labour has refused to rule out dragging the same system across the border.
James Cleverly, the shadow housing secretary, blasted, “It’s clear Labour have been using Wales as a test bed to develop the Big Brother technology to hike council tax on people’s homes.”
He warned that ordinary families could soon be dragged into Labour’s tax trap, saying, “Labour won’t stop at higher end homes, you can guarantee this surcharge will be widened, and families will wake up and find their home is now classed as a ‘mansion’.”
PLANNING RECORDS, SCHOOL QUALITY AND EVEN YOUR GARDEN
The Welsh valuation model also trawled planning websites, meaning homeowners with extensions or outhouses risk even bigger bills. The VOA also factored in school quality, transport links and local crime, none of which homeowners can control, as part of its valuation process.
John O’Connell of the TaxPayers’ Alliance called the policy “vicious” and “envy driven”, adding, “The fact they will have to effectively spy on any sign of affluence only confirms this.”
Reform UK’s Richard Tice was just as blunt, saying, “So Labour plan to spy more on the British people”.
PRIVACY STORM BREWING
Senior Conservative MP Dame Harriett Baldwin warned the snooping could break privacy laws altogether.
“There would definitely be privacy issues around this,” she said, adding, “This is just a dry run and a dress rehearsal for a complete revaluation of all the council tax bands.”
Despite the backlash, Treasury minister James Murray said the VOA already had “established valuation methodologies” and insisted the tax rise on asset rich households would go ahead. Another minister, Dan Tomlinson, said the Government was looking at using “powerful private sector data” to cut administrative costs, a move critics say opens the door to even more snooping.
VOA SAYS “WE ARE NOT SPYING”
A VOA spokesman insisted the agency only uses “freely available” aerial data, including Google Maps, and denied it was spying.
“We employ professional valuers who are involved at every stage”, he said, adding that the VOA also inspects properties “where needed”.
The mansion tax is set to start at 2,500 pounds for homes in the 2 million to 2.5 million pound bracket, rising sharply for higher value homes. London and the South East, where most 2 million pound plus homes are located, will take the heaviest hit.
Reeves claims the move targets “less than the top 1 per cent of properties” to address “wealth inequality”. But critics say it is the latest sign that Labour is gearing up to squeeze homeowners further, using satellites, surveillance and anything else it can get its hands on.
