Speaking in a debate on the Stamp Duty Land Tax Bill, Alok Sharma questions Labour on their mansion tax proposals as many people fear that the £2 million threshold could drop very quickly to levels applying to properties that ordinary hard-working taxpayers are aspiring to own.

Alok Sharma (Reading West) (Con): I am delighted that the hon. Lady and her party welcome measures that are intended to help people who aspire to own their homes. How does she think this policy contrasts with a policy of an annual property tax which may force some people out of their homes if they have to pay it?

Shabana Mahmood: I think that the Bill shows that the Government have accepted that properties with a very high value are under-taxed. The hon. Gentleman alluded to our proposals for a mansion tax, which would help to pay for our NHS commitments. Our measures will not force anyone out of their homes, because, as we have pointed out, a deferment option will be available to basic-rate payers. I am afraid that that was a bit of party political scaremongering on the hon. Gentleman’s part.

Alok Sharma: The hon. Lady mentioned the mansion tax. My constituents fear that the threshold might start at, say, £2 million, and then drop very quickly to levels applying to properties that ordinary hard-working taxpayers are aspiring to own. The Labour party has done that in the past. Will the hon. Lady tell us what would be the threshold for her so-called mansion tax?

Shabana Mahmood: I am delighted that the hon. Gentleman has given me an opportunity to tell his constituents that their fears are entirely misplaced. Anyone who publishes literature suggesting that the threshold will lower is doing nothing more than scaremongering. As we have made clear, the number of high-value properties will not increase, because the indexation of the threshold will be in line with the average rise in value for the highest-value properties. That means that the number of properties caught by the tax is not expected to increase. I am, as I say, delighted that the hon. Gentleman has given me an opportunity to reassure people who are currently living in properties that are below the £2 million threshold that they will not be caught by our proposed mansion tax.

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