Liberal Democrats rethink controversial £1m mansion tax policy

The Liberal Democrats today downgraded one of their highest-profile policies of the last year, announcing they would double the value of properties they would tax if in power from a threshold of £1m to £2m.

The new £2m threshold could hit 35,000 homes in London and 80,000 across the south-east and the party said the new levy would actually end up generating more revenue.

Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg said today his party had ‘looked in more detail’ at property values.

He added: ‘We don’t want family homes caught up in local property bubbles to be hit. We want to ensure that only the very wealthy pay this tax – pay their fair share so that we can offer tax cuts for everybody else.’