Labour leaders have signalled a U-turn on earlier promises to raise taxes on property owners.

Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves says a Labour government will not increase taxation on buy-to-let investors or introduce a mansion tax on wealthy people.

In an interview with the Daily Telegraph, she rules out any form of wealth tax, and says Labour will not raise capital gains tax either.

Contradicts

Reeves contradicts comments she made two years ago that “people who get their income through wealth should have to pay more”.

She highlighted people “who get their incomes through stocks and shares and buy-to-let properties”.

Denial

Reeves says: “I don’t have any spending plans that require us to raise £12 billion worth of money. So I don’t need a wealth tax or any of those things … We have no plans for a wealth tax.

“We don’t have any plans to increase taxes outside of what we’ve said. I don’t see the way to prosperity as being through taxation. I want to grow the economy.”

We won’t be doing that. It’s a denial.”

On the possibility of any form of wealth tax, she says: “We won’t be doing that. It’s a denial.”

A Labour source said the denial also applied to any form of mansion tax.

Rent controls

Earlier in the summer, Shadow Housing Minister Lisa Nandy confirmed a Labour U-turn on rent controls.

She said rent controls were a ‘short-term fixing plaster’ to solve the housing crisis, and that broader policies were needed.