Sir Keir Starmer and David Lammy are set to dodge Chancellor Rachel Reeves’s mansion tax raid following backlash from Labour MPs.
The “mansion tax” will now only target homes worth over £2million, allowing several senior cabinet members to escape the levy.
Mrs Reeves had initially proposed to announce a new council tax surcharge on homes valued over £1.5million in her Budget on Wednesday.
However, pressure from within her own party has forced to Chancellor to water down the plans that would have affected 300,000 homes across the nation.
Now, she will target 150,000 homes worth over £2million with an average £4,500 added to homeowners’ tax bills.
The Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister’s own homes are worth between £1.5million and £2million, allowing them to just slip under the threshold, according to The Telegraph.
Pat McFadden, the Work and Pensions Secretary, is also expected to escape the tax raid.
Sir Keir’s constituency home in Holborn and St Pancras was purchased for £650,000 in 2004 and is now worth £1.75million.
Sir Keir Starmer and David Lammy are set to escape Rachel Reeves’ new mansion tax
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Mr Lammy bought his Finsbury Park, north London, home in 2009 for £700,000 and would now be expected to fetch a similar £1.74million on the market.
Mr McFadden acquired his London accommodation in 2009 for £799,950, according to Land Registry documents, and is now worth a tidy sum of £1.79million.
Rachel Reeves’s own home in Dulwich, south-east London, is worth an estimated £1million.
All four homes comfortably fall below the revised surcharge rate set to be put in place by Mrs Reeves on Wednesday.
Mrs Reeves reduced the threshold on her new levy following backlash from Labour MPs
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However, Energy Secretary Ed Miliband is not so lucky as his £3.7million north London pad will feel the bite of the new levy.
Mrs Reeves’s backdown follows backlash from Labour MPs who expressed concerns about the impact on the London housing market of her original plans.
The new levy is expected to raise between £400million and £500million for the treasury.
It will form part of the Chancellor’s attempt to fill a £20billion black hole in the public finances in her budget on Wednesday.
Reacting to the changes, Reform UK Deputy Leader Richard Tice was scathing in his criticism.
“It seems no one except Labour’s front bench is safe from robber Reeves’s raft of tax rises,” he said.
“As always, it is one rule for them and another for everyone else.
“Whether they are flouting stamp duty or unlawfully renting out their homes, this is a Labour Government that’s in it for themselves, not the British people,” he slammed.