New figures reveals one in 5 houses in England and Wales are eligible to pay inheritance tax however additionally they present a pointy divide between the completely different areas when it comes to house prices.

The commonplace nil-rate band when inheriting a property that was the principle residence of the deceased is £500,000, and a fifth of all houses are price greater than this and so could possibly be hit by the tax.

But there's a clear regional divide within the worth of properties as whereas in London, 57 p.c of houses could be responsible for the levy, simply three p.c of houses within the North East could be eligible.

There have been 197 postcode areas the place no houses have bought for not less than £500,000 within the newest figures.

This contains most of the postcodes Kingston Upon Hull, components of Bolton (BL3 and BL4) and Stoke on Trent (ST1 and ST6).

Just six p.c of houses throughout the North of England price not less than £500,000, in comparison with 32 p.c within the South and eight p.c within the Midlands.

There have been a number of London postcodes the place each residence could be hit by the tax, together with W1B, which incorporates Oxford Circus, the place the common value paid was £4.5million.

The Mayfair postcode of W1K additionally has properties which might land a hefty inheritance tax payments, with a mean property worth of £8.1million.

Looking at Wales, many components of Cardiff additionally had zero p.c houses price not less than £500,000 though CF71 had 56 p.c.

Britons who're vulnerable to paying the tax could need to word the thresholds are double when inheriting belongings from a pair, so the allowance when inheriting a major property would improve to as much as £1million.

House costs have persistently gone up lately however some specialists are predicting they may now start to fall.

Richard Donnell, director of Research at Zoopla, previously said home costs will fall 22 p.c by 2025.

He warned there are a lot of “lead weights” that may preserve down home costs, equivalent to potential adjustments to EPC laws that will improve the prices of proudly owning a house.

Inheritance tax is a 40 p.c tax that applies to any whole inherited belongings above an individual or couple’s nil price band.

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