Their homes might come with gold-studded swimming pools or million-pound chandeliers, but wealthy homeowners in west London’s Kensington Palace Gardens aka Billionaires’ row are getting a 10% discount on their council tax bills.
Why? Because one in five properties on the street, where the average house price is £22m, qualify for a council tax discount as “second homes” or long-term empty properties.
Figures revealed by The Sunday Times show that the Sultan of Brunei, whose estimated wealth is $20bn, paid £1,942 instead of £2,158 as council tax bill, thanks to the 10% discount.
However, Kensington and Chelsea council plans to scrap the discount from April.
Kensington and Chelsea council leader, Sir Merrick Cockell, said: “If we had the freedom to abolish the discount, we would have done it a long time ago.”
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