If I were a Labour Chancellor of the Exchequer or Housing Minister I think my proposal would be
Regulatory
A significant increase in the regulation of rented houses; higher and ever increasing minimum standards on energy efficiency and other habitability measures, strictly enforced.
I would bring in the same sort of rental rights as were recently brought in in Scotland. Also the community right to buy scheme as enjoyed in Scotland.
Policy Aim - I want to improve the quality and security of rented accommodation whilst also shifting housing stock from the private rented sector to the private owned sector (I like people owning houses for a variety of policy reasons.)
Planning Reform and Tax
A planning permission change in use land value tax - if your planning application results in a significant increase in the underlying value of the land, you pay some tax on that change in use windfall. Probably double digits tax. Unless you are a housing association or a local authority housing department.
Development land bank holding tax - you have to notify HMRC if you are holding land for development purposes. If so, you have 5 years then you start paying a land bank tax. 1% in year 6, 2% in year 7 up to 5%, maybe 10% per annum of the value of the land. If you have not informed HMRC that you are holding the land for development and you attempt to apply for planning permission, then off you go to tax evasion prison and the land is barred from planning changes whilst it is owned by you.
Planning permission sunsets after 5 or 10 years. Use it or lose.
Policy Aim - to encourage the private sector to either build homes or return the land to the market for other people to build homes. NB I am providing funding to local government and the third-sector to create demand for land released in this way. Smart developers will either get on with their developments or sell the land to local authorities.
Unrealised gains on rental properties. If you own a rental property every 5 years you have the current market value assessed. You pay tax on the capital gains then and there, as a payment on account against the future sale. There are generous tax breaks on this if the house is a new build house and it was built with the intention of being rented and the original tenants are still in the home.
Policy Aim - I want to shift housing stock from the private rented sector to the private owned sector by making buy-to-let property a less attractive investment. If you are building new housing to rent out, I'm okay with that.
Funding and State Activism
And in parallel with that I'd provide really very significant funding to local authorities and housing associations to build social housing. I would probably do that by floating a series of government backed bonds secured on the newly built housing stock. Investments in the Housing Stock Bond would be exempt from inheritance tax.
Local authorities would be permitted to make a surplus on the provision of social housing but would be required to re-invest any income above the full economic cost of providing social housing in more social housing until we hit a number of trigger points based on eg social housing waiting lists, average house price changes or similar. Basically, once we have moved from a shortage of housing to an abundance of housing local authorities can use the modest surplus on providing social housing to provide other local services. (This is explicitly a social contract stabiliser. People receiving social housing are getting a fiscal transfer that amounts to a redistribution of wealth. I'm good with that, but one the housing shortage is dealt with I think those people are likely to be, on aggregate, in a slightly better position to chip in towards the commonweal.
Uncertain about the extent to which I would build in a social housing tenants right to buy. I am inclined to build that in from the very beginning in a very slow and measured way with strict rules on the buyer actually living in the house in order to make it harder for a future right of centre government to sell off all the housing stock again. So probably something like, if you live in newly provided social housing you can pay up to 1% of the cost to build that housing unit extra per year in order to buy part ownership of the housing unit, once you reach a 15% stake in the property you can buy the rest of it for somewhere in between the replacement cost and the current market value.
no subject
Regulatory
A significant increase in the regulation of rented houses; higher and ever increasing minimum standards on energy efficiency and other habitability measures, strictly enforced.
I would bring in the same sort of rental rights as were recently brought in in Scotland. Also the community right to buy scheme as enjoyed in Scotland.
Policy Aim - I want to improve the quality and security of rented accommodation whilst also shifting housing stock from the private rented sector to the private owned sector (I like people owning houses for a variety of policy reasons.)
Planning Reform and Tax
A planning permission change in use land value tax - if your planning application results in a significant increase in the underlying value of the land, you pay some tax on that change in use windfall. Probably double digits tax. Unless you are a housing association or a local authority housing department.
Development land bank holding tax - you have to notify HMRC if you are holding land for development purposes. If so, you have 5 years then you start paying a land bank tax. 1% in year 6, 2% in year 7 up to 5%, maybe 10% per annum of the value of the land. If you have not informed HMRC that you are holding the land for development and you attempt to apply for planning permission, then off you go to tax evasion prison and the land is barred from planning changes whilst it is owned by you.
Planning permission sunsets after 5 or 10 years. Use it or lose.
Policy Aim - to encourage the private sector to either build homes or return the land to the market for other people to build homes. NB I am providing funding to local government and the third-sector to create demand for land released in this way. Smart developers will either get on with their developments or sell the land to local authorities.
Unrealised gains on rental properties. If you own a rental property every 5 years you have the current market value assessed. You pay tax on the capital gains then and there, as a payment on account against the future sale. There are generous tax breaks on this if the house is a new build house and it was built with the intention of being rented and the original tenants are still in the home.
Policy Aim - I want to shift housing stock from the private rented sector to the private owned sector by making buy-to-let property a less attractive investment. If you are building new housing to rent out, I'm okay with that.
Funding and State Activism
And in parallel with that I'd provide really very significant funding to local authorities and housing associations to build social housing. I would probably do that by floating a series of government backed bonds secured on the newly built housing stock. Investments in the Housing Stock Bond would be exempt from inheritance tax.
Local authorities would be permitted to make a surplus on the provision of social housing but would be required to re-invest any income above the full economic cost of providing social housing in more social housing until we hit a number of trigger points based on eg social housing waiting lists, average house price changes or similar. Basically, once we have moved from a shortage of housing to an abundance of housing local authorities can use the modest surplus on providing social housing to provide other local services. (This is explicitly a social contract stabiliser. People receiving social housing are getting a fiscal transfer that amounts to a redistribution of wealth. I'm good with that, but one the housing shortage is dealt with I think those people are likely to be, on aggregate, in a slightly better position to chip in towards the commonweal.
Uncertain about the extent to which I would build in a social housing tenants right to buy. I am inclined to build that in from the very beginning in a very slow and measured way with strict rules on the buyer actually living in the house in order to make it harder for a future right of centre government to sell off all the housing stock again. So probably something like, if you live in newly provided social housing you can pay up to 1% of the cost to build that housing unit extra per year in order to buy part ownership of the housing unit, once you reach a 15% stake in the property you can buy the rest of it for somewhere in between the replacement cost and the current market value.
Or something like that.