| Topic: | Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:why the Mansion tax is utterly wrong | |
| Posted by: | Sam Hearn | |
| Date/Time: | 03/09/14 17:30:00 |
| "I don’t understand why stamp duty doesn’t get abolished and is replaced by capital gains tax on the sale of your property." In the past I have heard it argued that capital gains tax on an individual's main residence would dramatically reduce labour mobility i.e. if you sell and pay CGT you will not have enough money to buy a similar property unless you move to an area with significantly lower house prices. CGT is already charged on the sale of second homes. This may of course encourage owners to hang on to them until they retire and move to their second homes thereby converting them into their main residences. 2013 saw the biggest ever annual decrease in the numbers of empty homes (a drop of 75,000). The decrease saw the numbers of both empty homes and long term empty homes drop to the lowest ever recorded levels. The improving housing market has made it more viable to renovate derelict properties. The government introduced an empty homes programme, providing grants and incentives for councils, housing associations, community groups and owners to bring empty homes into affordable use. This program is now delivering results. "If a property is unoccupied for more than 6 months the council should have to right to find a tenant for the property or charge a large amount of council tax in lieu of this" Councils are not good at re-letting properties that they themselves own. Why should they be any better at letting properties owned by other people? One really effective way to return derelict homes to residential use would be to cut the VAT on refurbishment work. The Cut the VAT campaign urges all mainstream political parties to include a 2015 General Election manifesto commitment to reduce VAT on housing renovation and repair work from 20% to 5%. This would incentivise property owners to repair and renovate their properties and encourage developers to buy empty properties to do up and let out. For some property owners it would make the difference between being able to raise the finance to do the required works, or being stuck with an empty property unable to afford to cover the costs of bringing it back into use as a home. Cutting VAT to 5% would help boost the level of repair and renovation works to existing properties, whether occupied or not, thereby increasing employment, boosting economic growth and helping people install energy efficiency measures and reduce the cost of living for those who live in or move into those properties. For more information see www.fmb.org.uk/news-publications/newsroom/campaigns/cut-the-vat/ |