The High Value Council Tax Surcharge will apply to residential properties worth £2m or more and take effect from April 2028, according to the Budget 2026 Overview of Tax Legislation and Rates published by HMRC.
The document describes the surcharge as an additional charge on residential properties. It will be legislated in Finance Bill 2026-27, and HMRC notes that it was first announced at Budget 2025.
The official document supplies the value threshold and start date that were missing from the trade body Propertymark's earlier summary of the Budget. It does not give the rates of the surcharge.
Propertymark's report that owners rather than occupiers will pay the surcharge has not been independently checked.