At least 101 Devon homes could be hit with Budget’s £2m ‘mansion’ surcharge

At least 101 Devon homes look likely to be hit with a ‘mansion’ surcharge announced in the Budget, but many more could also trigger the additional levy.

The chancellor Rachel Reeves announced in her Budget that a new high value council tax surcharge would be applied to homes worth more than £2 million from April 2028.
Sales data from Rightmove shows that 101 homes across the county – from Salcombe and Thurlestone in the South Hams, to Brixham in Torbay, Braunton in North Devon, and Lyme Regis in East Devon – have sold for more than £2 million since 2020.
Unless the values of those properties have decreased, it’s extremely likely those homes will have to pay the surcharge, which starts at £2,500 per year, rising to £7,500 per year for properties valued above £5 million.
The charge will be issued to property owners, rather than occupiers, suggesting rental tenants won’t be hit with the bill.
But the Rightmove data only covers properties that have sold in the past five years, suggesting that many more Devon homes that have not been on the market in that five-year period covered by the Rightmove data, could trigger the surcharge.
The government said local councils would collect this additional tax on behalf of central government, and would be “fully compensated” for the extra cost of doing so.
Budget papers also state the money raised from the surcharge will be used to “support funding for local services, with further consideration through the next spending review in 2027”.
The government said it would consult on the implementation of the surcharge in 2026, including “to determine who might need additional support to pay the charge and how to deliver it”.
That could mean that pensioners who happen to be asset-rich by living in a big property, but who are on low incomes, could receive help paying the additional bill.