Four London councils write to the Chancellor over the High Value Council Tax Surcharge due in April 2028

The leaders of Wandsworth, Richmond, Westminster and Kensington and Chelsea have jointly written to the government asking it to reconsider the High Value Council Tax Surcharge, reported on 16 September. They argue households across the four boroughs would pay around £275m a year — more than half the expected national take — with none of it retained locally. For sellers of higher-value homes, the risk is that an April 2028 start date begins shaping buyer behaviour well before it arrives. Nothing has changed yet: this is a request for a rethink, not a policy shift.