Former estate agent and Conservative chairman Kevin Hollinrake has described Labour’s proposed mansion tax as a “burglar’s charter,” saying it could make high-value households more easily identifiable to criminals.

The surcharge, announced in the recent Budget, would apply to homes worth over £2 million. Hollinrake said the tax would allow anyone to check online whether a property is subject to the levy, potentially revealing the owner’s wealth.

Currently, council tax bands can be checked online by property address, but they are still based on 1991 valuations. Under the existing system, the top band covers all homes valued at £325,000 or more. The introduction of the mansion tax would mean that, for the first time, all homes over £2 million would be publicly identifiable.

Hollinrake said: “Not content with hiking up council tax for every home, Labour wants to single out people who have saved and worked hard with even higher taxes.

“Ministers are doing criminals’ homework for them, highlighting the most profitable properties to target. This is a tax on aspiration, with a cruel kick at the end of it. And with just five per cent of burglaries resulting in a court appearance, the vast majority of perpetrators will get away with it.”

The levy, officially called the high-value council tax surcharge, will revalue homes in the top three council tax bands—F, G, and H. Properties newly valued over £2m will face an extra annual levy of between £2,500 and £7,500, depending on their value.

A Treasury spokesman said: “Council tax bands have been in the public domain for more than 30 years. Our reforms to property taxes will ensure a £10m Westminster mansion doesn’t pay less than a typical family home in England.”