The Tories started the war against Middle England

You could hear the Machiavellian chuckle in the voice of the Chancellor Jeremy Hunt. Yesterday, he challenged the Labour Party to rule out any rises in property taxes. Sure, the Conservatives may be 20 points or more behind in the polls, but here at least was a winning card to play. If anything could be guaranteed to get traditional Tory voters in the leafy suburbs scuttling back into the fold, it was surely a few alarming warnings about the taxes on their homes going up.

But hold on. There is a flaw in the argument, and, unfortunately, it is far from a minor one. Because the awkward truth is that it was the Tories who started the war on property wealth, and doubled down on it even as its consequences became more and clearly catastrophic. All Labour will be doing is finishing the job.

Over their 13 years in power, Tony Blair and Gordon Brown may have raised lots of taxes, both by stealth and quite openly. But there was one thing that was generally seen as off limits: property (with the arguable exception of council tax). Blair at least was a skilful enough politician to realise that swingeing new taxes on people’s homes were a certain way to destroy his government’s popularity in Middle England.

His successors in office have not been anything like as careful. Instead, Tory chancellors have been unable to resist raiding property time and time again.

Take stamp duty. Back in 2010, the rate was just 1 per cent on properties worth between £125,000 and £250,000, meaning most people paid very little. The top rate was 4 per cent, on properties of more than £500,000.

And now? While the tax has been reformed to remove the old “slab” structure, it is 5 per cent on anything above £250,000, rising to 10 per cent on properties above £925,000, and 12 per cent above £1.5 million. If it is your second home, there is another 3 per cent to pay on top of that, and if you are not a tax resident in the UK another 2 per cent. Anyone able to spot the difference? Over the past 14 years, stamp duty has now been raised to such punitive levels – especially when combined with runaway house price growth – that it is in effect a tax on home ownership.

Likewise, there have been a series of raids on private landlords. Mortgage interest is no longer fully tax deductible unless you operate through a company, there is extra stamp duty to pay, and there are a whole range of extra expenses, from checks on immigration status to energy certificates. Meanwhile, councils are now allowed to charge extra tax on second homes, and most, starved of money and on the edge of bankruptcy, will surely do so.

And of course, the inheritance tax threshold has been frozen at £325,000 for the entire length of this dismal administration, even though house prices have risen considerably. We are close to the point, and have already long since passed it in London and the South East, where IHT could be payable on the average home. It is in effect, a property tax, as your house is the one asset you can’t easily give away before you die.

So many extra taxes have been added to property over the past 14 years that it might well have been simpler to add a straightforward mansion (otherwise known as a three bedroom semi in Solihull) levy on everyone.

The Conservatives’ sin has been all the greater because the consequences of their actions have been so obviously disastrous. Rents have soared as they have attacked landlords, the rate of home ownership has fallen, and it is harder than ever for young people to get on the property ladder. Even in the face of overwhelming evidence that taxing property more does not – surprise, surprise – increase its supply, affordability, or quality, Tory governments have pressed blindly forwards.

Even more seriously, they have opened the door to yet higher taxes. It is hard to see how anyone who served in recent Conservative administrations could complain if Labour finished the job. It might be a 1 per cent annual property levy, higher council tax, or imposing capital gains tax on a main residence above £1 million, with the threshold frozen so that it eventually applies to the average home.

Whatever it is, the Tories have already conceded that property wealth is a legitimate target – and regrettably the whole country will now reap the consequences of that when Labour is back in power.