Mansion tax inspectors can photograph people's homes without owner's permission or knowledge in attempt to collect new levy

Mansion tax inspectors can photograph people's homes without the owner's permission or knowledge to collect a new levy.

The Government has instructed Valuation Office inspectors to take exterior photos of properties and gardens from public highways against an owner's wishes.

But critics have slammed the guidance as "state snooping".

From April 2028, a levy will be placed on homes worth more than £2million.

The move is expected to generate £430million for the Exchequer, as around 150,000 properties are slapped with a levy of between £2,500 and £7,500 a year.

The new levy is likely to be heavily disputed, as there are an estimated 75,000 just below the £2million threshold.

A document obtained by Freedom of Information laws reveals that inspectors will evaluate homes by "collecting and recording the facts and information", which includes home visits, notes, and photos.

Internal and external pictures are "essential", as they provide a clear record of a property, particularly if alterations or extensions have been made, the document, reported by The Times, said.

Facts gathered include survey data, dates of alterations to the property, its condition and any lease or licence details.

A separate document revealed that "overhead and street view imagery from search engine maps" could be used for evaluations.

Aerial photos from Ordnance Survey, available through the taxpayer-funded Public Sector Geospatial Agreement, can also be used.

Katie Lam, the Tories' Shadow Housing Secretary, told The Times Labour had given tax inspectors "free rein to snoop on people's homes, photograph their gardens and feed that information into property valuations".

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She said: "Families should not have to worry that the garden they’ve worked hard to maintain will become another excuse for the taxman to slap them with a bigger bill.

"This is an outrageous invasion of privacy and another example of Labour treating people’s homes as a cash machine.

"They just don’t believe that your property really belongs to you.

"The Conservatives will scrap the Family Homes Tax and put an end to Labour’s creeping culture of state snooping."

A Government spokesman said: "HMRC's approach is well-established and already used to ensure fair and accurate valuations for millions of homes for council tax.

"In most cases, properties are valued without the need for a visit.

"The surcharge addresses a longstanding unfairness where a Band D home in Darlington pays more in council tax than a £10million mansion in Mayfair and will apply to less than 1 per cent of properties in England."

The Valuation Office Agency sits within HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC).

It is not illegal to take a photo of a property from a public area without permission.