An alternate interpretation is half of the property taxes are paid for by less than 1% of the population, who also are acting as environmental conservators by not subdividing and developing large tracts of unspoiled wilderness.
You can buy whole Scottish estates, complete with castles and lochs and hundreds of square miles of wilderness, for less than the cost of a small flat in London. They aren't necessarily particularly viable economically, despite their size, and the owners aren't necessarily wealthy (though some are of course). They get put up for sale all the time for a good reason! They are a huge money sink.
Extremely interesting information. Thank you for contributing that important insight, which significantly changes the nature of the debate.
As I understand it, "unspoiled wilderness" is exempt from the nearest things the UK has to property taxes, council tax (on residential properties) and business rates (on commercial properties).