What Prime Homeowners Really Think About Tax

Our latest dataset at We Are Unchained, drawn from households in the upper quartile of property value (homes of £500k and above), offers a clearer view of this group’s mindset as we approach the Budget.

What emerges is not the ideological caricature often imagined. Only 31 percent of this group voted Conservative in 2024. The remaining 69 percent did not. The story is one of steady pragmatism. Prime homeowners are more fiscally cautious than the public at large, more sceptical of broad tax rises, and more focused on predictability than political theatre.

The details matter for anyone advising, guiding or selling to this audience.

When asked how the government should balance its books, upper quartile homeowners express a firmer preference for limiting both tax rises and borrowing. They are more open than the wider population to spending restraint rather than higher taxation. This is exactly what you would expect from clients whose financial horizons are long. Sudden shifts in tax policy introduce uncertainty. Stability, not expansion, is the governing instinct.

On whether the Chancellor needs to raise taxes this autumn, the mood remains cautious. While the general public is divided, prime homeowners lean toward the view that the government should exhaust efficiency and prioritisation before reaching for revenue. This is not a call for lower taxes. It is a call for fewer surprises.

They are also more inclined to believe that the wealthy already pay about their fair share, in contrast to the broader population, which tends to think otherwise. Here the question of fairness becomes the real battleground. Tax debates are rarely only about economics. Fairness sets the emotional tone.

The pattern continues on a broad wealth tax. Upper quartile homeowners are markedly more sceptical than the general public, and more decisive in their opposition. A general wealth tax feels blunt. It targets them directly. Prime clients respond to detail, nuance and predictability, and a blanket levy violates all three.

Yet narrow the question and attitudes shift. A specific proposal for a two percent tax on net wealth above £10 million attracts considerably more support among this group. They remain more cautious than the population overall, but the gap narrows. They differentiate between wealth and extreme wealth, and respond more favourably to policies that acknowledge the distinction. A narrow majority even believe that raising taxes on the super-rich would increase overall tax revenue. They do not subscribe to Laffer Curve orthodoxy.

Perhaps the most telling insight is this: prime homeowners generally expect their own taxes to rise. That expectation almost certainly shapes their broader views. If you anticipate upward pressure on your own finances, your enthusiasm for further interventions naturally recedes. Optimism about property may remain strong, but confidence in the direction of personal taxation is notably less stable.

Finally, when asked whether the decision not to raise income tax in the forthcoming Budget was correct, upper quartile homeowners tended to say yes. The general population was more evenly split. It completes the pattern. Caution over expansion. Preference for stability. A desire for predictability in a volatile economy.

The message is straightforward. Your clients do not align neatly with any political tribe. They are not anti-tax. They are anti-volatility.

They favour proportionate measures, clear thresholds and fiscal policy that does not shift with the political weather. They are more sceptical than the average voter, yet also more pragmatic.

For agents, this implies three things.

Prime homeowners have always occupied a distinct position in the national conversation about tax. This dataset confirms their priorities: fairness, predictability and a steady hand on the tiller.

For those advising them, it is a reminder that the economics of prime property never operate in isolation. They follow confidence, sentiment and trust. And those, in Britain, are shaped by the quiet arithmetic of tax.

Simon Leadbetter, Unchained.Marketing.