At 28 I'm buying my first house at the moment. Taken me so many years to save because of the ever growing house price. Mortgage is going to be £1,100 a month.
Help to buy should be for UK residents only and at some point that will have to go for all properties being sold in the U.K. House prices will continue to rise as the population grows and that gap increases.
At 28 I'm buying my first house at the moment. Taken me so many years to save because of the ever growing house price. Mortgage is going to be £1,100 a month.
Help to buy should be for UK residents only and at some point that will have to go for all properties being sold in the U.K. House prices will continue to rise as the population grows and that gap increases.
Semantics here but a UK resident is simply someone who is already living here. Are you saying that home ownership should be restricted to those who currently live (as in rent or own) in a house in the UK already? Not that I necessarily disagree.
I would also, perhaps, like to see some kind of restriction on any person owning more than one residential property, or corporations owning residential property, unless they are rented out on affordable terms as dictated by the local authorities. So for luxury apartments, a levy on these should be used to make other property more affordable.
At 28 I'm buying my first house at the moment. Taken me so many years to save because of the ever growing house price. Mortgage is going to be £1,100 a month.
Help to buy should be for UK residents only and at some point that will have to go for all properties being sold in the U.K. House prices will continue to rise as the population grows and that gap increases.
Semantics here but a UK resident is simply someone who is already living here. Are you saying that home ownership should be restricted to those who currently live (as in rent or own) in a house in the UK already? Not that I necessarily disagree.
I would also, perhaps, like to see some kind of restriction on any person owning more than one residential property, or corporations owning residential property, unless they are rented out on affordable terms as dictated by the local authorities. So for luxury apartments, a levy on these should be used to make other property more affordable.
To be fair there is increased Stamp Duty, tax on the rent received, and/or Council Tax on the property if it's empty, and then there is Capital Gains Tax on the sale of the property. There are some financial disincentives (restrictions) to owning more than one property.
The problem is that the excessive demand and higher prices (purchase and rent) are specific to certain areas and are a result of excessive demand and limited supply. If the price of these properties was artificially lowered how will the issue of excess demand and limited supply be solved? If a landlord is forced to rent his property at a price that there are, say, 1,000 potential tenants applying for it how does he chose who gets the property - and what happens to combat 'housing touts'? Ironically this is the same dilemma that would be faced if tickets for the top Premier League games, that the club can sell all day for £50, were released for £20. Who gets to buy one and what happens if they all, literally, turn 'round and sell them on for £50 each?
At 28 I'm buying my first house at the moment. Taken me so many years to save because of the ever growing house price. Mortgage is going to be £1,100 a month.
Help to buy should be for UK residents only and at some point that will have to go for all properties being sold in the U.K. House prices will continue to rise as the population grows and that gap increases.
Semantics here but a UK resident is simply someone who is already living here. Are you saying that home ownership should be restricted to those who currently live (as in rent or own) in a house in the UK already? Not that I necessarily disagree.
I would also, perhaps, like to see some kind of restriction on any person owning more than one residential property, or corporations owning residential property, unless they are rented out on affordable terms as dictated by the local authorities. So for luxury apartments, a levy on these should be used to make other property more affordable.
To be fair there is increased Stamp Duty, tax on the rent received, and/or Council Tax on the property if it's empty, and then there is Capital Gains Tax on the sale of the property. There are some financial disincentives (restrictions) to owning more than one property.
The problem is that the excessive demand and higher prices (purchase and rent) are specific to certain areas and are a result of excessive demand and limited supply. If the price of these properties was artificially lowered how will the issue of excess demand and limited supply be solved? If a landlord is forced to rent his property at a price that there are, say, 1,000 potential tenants applying for it how does he chose who gets the property - and what happens to combat 'housing touts'? Ironically this is the same dilemma that would be faced if tickets for the top Premier League games, that the club can sell all day for £50, were released for £20. Who gets to buy one and what happens if they all, literally, turn 'round and sell them on for £50 each?
Good points. Good legislation and enforcement is the key. A house is a lot harder to change hands than a football ticket. I'm not saying my idea is perfect but there has to be a better way of deciding who gets to live somewhere apart from how much wedge they have. And I know more luxurious properties attract bigger taxes but I'm saying there should be a specific levy for properties that are not considered affordable and this levy goes directly into a scheme to finance affordable housing.
Second homes and holiday homes are all part of the problem. Go to some villages in Dorset (and no doubt elsewhere) and almost every property is a holiday cottage. These are properties which would otherwise be occupied by local people. Add in a lack of affordable housing, it's a perfect storm. And this is going on all over the country.
Second homes and holiday homes are all part of the problem. Go to some villages in Dorset (and no doubt elsewhere) and almost every property is a holiday cottage. These are properties which would otherwise be occupied by local people. Add in a lack of affordable housing, it's a perfect storm. And this is going on all over the country.
Whilst I agree the lack of affordable housing in rural/seaside areas is a real problem, the Villagers are quite happy to sell to `incomers' for inflated prices. They could always sell to the youngsters of the village.
PWR. My wife and I have a second property which we'd sell tomorrow if it wasn't for the ridiculous amount of tax we'd have to pay on the capital gain its accrued over many, many years. I suspect we are not alone in that. Reduce the capital gains tax and a lot of properties would come back on the market and bring prices down generally. The upshot of that is if prices did show signs of falling then UK property owners/investors from overseas would no doubt start dumping theirs as well pdq and homes would start to become more affordable. Then there's also the added benefit to the UK economy if Mrs Ltgtr being let lose with a serious amount of cash...
Political will. Make it that properties not lived in have to pay 10 times regular council tax. It would soon alter the economics around hoarding homes.
There are a number of things I would want to see the government do that ultimately, is interfering in the free market so will never happen and I'm probably looking at it too simplistically, so what in my head is a good idea, wouldn't work in practice.
Basically I'm 110% with @Fiiish on this subject. I agree with pretty much everything he's written, particularly the bit about property not be used as an investment vexhicle. However I know that viewpoint would not be welcome by a number of people
How is taxing empty property interfering in the free market any more than taxing booze and fags? This is a simple policy, easy to administer. You get up to 6 months to refurbish an empty property (as is allowed under council tax now). After that, you start paying 10 times council tax. Obviously this would have to be on a region by region basis as there really are places up north no one will live. But there's no excuse for hoarding homes in areas of high demand.
(edited to add) Councils wouldn't even need to buy a new computer system to administer it.
Okay. Do you know why most properties are empty? I don't. But my guess would be for the majority, it's because there owner has died, not because they are being hoarded by some Russian oligarch. At the moment, I think, there's actually a waiver on paying council tax on such properties. It is inevitable that it takes time to: undertake house clearance, get the property valued, get probate sorted, and actually get the property viewed, surveyed, and sold. It seems the average time it takes to sell a house is about 5/6 months. But very month some will be sold and some new empty ones will come along.
So, in short, how much money would this raise? Somewhere approaching peanuts I would think by the time realism kicks in and various necessary exemption clauses are drafted.
Comments
Help to buy should be for UK residents only and at some point that will have to go for all properties being sold in the U.K. House prices will continue to rise as the population grows and that gap increases.
I would also, perhaps, like to see some kind of restriction on any person owning more than one residential property, or corporations owning residential property, unless they are rented out on affordable terms as dictated by the local authorities. So for luxury apartments, a levy on these should be used to make other property more affordable.
The problem is that the excessive demand and higher prices (purchase and rent) are specific to certain areas and are a result of excessive demand and limited supply. If the price of these properties was artificially lowered how will the issue of excess demand and limited supply be solved? If a landlord is forced to rent his property at a price that there are, say, 1,000 potential tenants applying for it how does he chose who gets the property - and what happens to combat 'housing touts'? Ironically this is the same dilemma that would be faced if tickets for the top Premier League games, that the club can sell all day for £50, were released for £20. Who gets to buy one and what happens if they all, literally, turn 'round and sell them on for £50 each?
I'm still going to keep highlighting this. Piss poor all round from governments dating back a while now, both Labour & Tory
They could always sell to the youngsters of the village.
So, in short, how much money would this raise? Somewhere approaching peanuts I would think by the time realism kicks in and various necessary exemption clauses are drafted.