West Ham owner says 'a lot of rich people' leaving UK ahead of non-dom crackdown

David Sullivan, majority shareholder of the football club, has cut the asking price of his 10-bedroom mansion in London's Marylebone by £10 million amid a tough prime property market

West Ham United's chairman has criticised the Government’s proposed crackdown on non-doms as "isn’t very nice", while slashing the asking price of his London mansion by £10m amid a challenging prime property market.

David Sullivan, who holds a majority stake in the football club, admitted he was selling the property at a loss. The Marylebone mansion, currently listed with Knight Frank for £65m, boasts 10 bedrooms and bathrooms, along with luxury features such as a swimming pool, spa, cinema room, gym and wine cellar.

However, Mr Sullivan revealed that he purchased it for £27m in 2015, and poured nearly £50m into renovations, bringing the total expenditure to around £75m. "I’m selling it at a loss now, but you have to be realistic," he confessed to Bloomberg. "Interest rates are high — they’re coming down but not much. I also think what the Government is doing to the non-doms isn’t very nice, and a lot of rich people are leaving the country as a result of what they anticipate in the Budget."

He added: "Three or four of my friends have already gone to Monaco or Dubai." Labour has promised in its election manifesto to clamp down on so-called non-doms, referring to UK residents whose permanent home, or domicile, is outside of the UK for tax purposes.

At present, non-doms only need to pay tax on their UK earnings. The forthcoming Budget statement could bring about a change in policy, following Labour's declaration that it would abolish "the outdated non-dom tax regime". However, there are concerns that this could potentially drive ultra-wealthy residents out of the country.

The Treasury stated last week that it was "committed to addressing fairness in the tax system", and plans to replace the current system with a "new internationally competitive residence-based regime". Mr Sullivan, who purchased a controlling stake in West Ham alongside fellow businessman David Gold in 2010, has built a successful career with Mr Gold in the adult magazine publication industry.