According to statistics from Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC), property comprised half of the wealth of London estates paying inheritance tax in the financial year 2019 to 2020. The average value for property was over £820,000 and the average estate value in the UK capital was over £1.4 million, according to HMRC’s figures.
Furthermore, property wealth dominated estates paying IHT throughout the southern regions of England, which also recorded far higher numbers for estates overshooting the nil-band rate and paying the mandatory tax.
UK homeowners with concerns that the rising value of their property is pushing them into the category where the levy will be applicable to their estate often consult experts in estate and retirement planning in Chester, Birmingham and other major cities. Wealth managers help their clients to pass on their wealth using tax-effective strategies that minimise the size of final IHT bills and ensure more of their estate passes on to their beneficiaries instead of HMRC.
The proportion of property wealth in IHT-paying estates fell to 39 per cent in the Southeast, 36 per cent in the East, 32 per cent in the Southwest and 31 per cent in the West Midlands. However, in all other parts of the country, it decreased to a quarter or less.
The regions with the greatest number of estates paying IHT were London, the Southeast, the East and the Southwest of England. The regions with the least number of estates paying the levy were Northern Ireland and the Northeast.
