Hundreds of millions of pounds worth of refurbishment work is apparently on hold while London’s richest homeowners wait for a conclusion to the general election and the possibility of a mansion tax, according to property maintenance firm aspect.co.uk.

The firm is predicting that property values in central London will decline by 6-10% in the first half of 2015 and they are also planning for a good chunk of their multi-million pound order book to be put on hold.

“Many of our clients have expressed deep concerns about Labour’s proposed mansion tax,” said aspect.co.uk MD Will Davies, adding, “the introduction of this draconian tax on houses valued above £2m will wipe significant value off standard homes. London will be the area most affected by uncertainty over any mansion tax.

“We are seeing people hold off on pressing the button with some larger scale refurbishment work on the £2m plus homes while they wait to see what happens with it. We currently have an order book of around £5m for residential refurbishment, but more of these are being placed on hold than ever before pending confirmation of the mansion tax.”