Estate agents in west London have expressed concerns over the 'uncertainty' of the Labour Party's proposed mansion tax.
The new tax, first announced by shadow chancellor Ed Balls at the annual Labour Party conference on September 23 , would place an annual levy on all properties worth £2million or above.
Mr Balls says the money will raise around £1.2billion a year which will go towards the NHS.
However estate agents in west London are worried about the impact this may have on selling properties, namely over the uncertainty of how much people will be expected to pay in tax.
This is also due to the relatively large share of their properties on sale being priced at over £2m, with a quarter of all homes sold for £2m plus in England and Wales since 2010 being in Kensington and Chelsea and Westminster close behind with 18.9 per cent.
Hammersmith and Fulham has the fourth greatest number of £2m plus homes, with around 444 costing this much, and Camden comes in third.
Jamie Lester, managing director of Haus Properties, an estate agents in Fulham and Chiswick, has around 10 properties for sale at these prices in both areas, making up around 30 per cent of his total.
He called the proposal 'ill thought out', and said: "People cannot make a decision on something they don't know about."
It has not yet been announced what the official rate of tax will be, though many estate agents think it will mostly affect houses priced between £2m and £2.5m.
Mr Lester said it would not have as large an effect on the most expensive properties, saying: "A £3m house will still cost £3m."
Jonathan Fieldman, a valuer at Sinclairs in Paddington agreed. He said: "People won't be put off due to a lack of money."
Elliot Rowe, manager at Douglas and Gordon's Hammersmith and Shepherd's Bush branch echoed the worry about the lack of clarity on the issue, saying it would affect their pricing of houses.
He said: "The houses near the £2m mark will have to be pushed just below, otherwise they'll be taxed. Houses around £2.5m will go up closer to £3m."
Despite this, he did not think the effects would be long-term, adding: "After around six months or so things should return to normal."
