Should we tax foreign buyers on property deliberately left empty?

ukcarper

CLAPTON wrote: »

Indeed so, homelessness can be defined in many ways, but outside the mentally ill and other special cases the levels of homelessness in the UK are very low

it is true however, that sometimes an 16 year old girl has to share a bedroom with their younger sister

What about people in hostels, sofa surfing,bed and breakfast to name a few.

Graham_Devon

vivatifosi wrote: »

It is a minor irritant. Say that a top end house is worth £1m (for round number purposes). Say also that the price will rise 8-10% this year. That's £80-100k. Nobody is going to tax anyone at that sort of rate therefore the disincentive is absolutely minimal. It's a bit like being bitten by a midge: annoying, but not enough to put you off walking in Scotland. All that will happen is that they'll make a gain of say 7-9% instead. But they will still make a gain because it is worth taking the gamble still.

ETA: before we add a tax we need to close the loopholes that stop people paying the taxes that everyone else has to pay first, namely stamp duty (per Pastures's post) and council tax.

What about say a 40% tax on the profits at sale?

CLAPTON

ukcarper wrote: »

What about people in hostels, sofa surfing,bed and breakfast to name a few.

People living in hostels, sofa surfing and b&b are typically short term solutions that are used to find more permanent one

I know many young people who sofa surf whilst looking for permanent accommodation : they have jobs and money but paying hotel bills (especially in London) is not an attractive proposition to staying a short while with friends

ukcarper

CLAPTON wrote: »

People living in hostels, sofa surfing and b&b are typically short term solutions that are used to find more permanent one

I know many young people who sofa surf whilst looking for permanent accommodation : they have jobs and money but paying hotel bills (especially in London) is not an attractive proposition to staying a short while with friends

I do really believe you are out of touch with the less well off people in tis country.

chucky

Why should people be taxed if they buy property as an investment!?

They may only need a 2 bed flat to live in but buy a 3 bed house because they see it as a better investment. Why should they be taxed for it?!

CLAPTON

ukcarper wrote: »

I do really believe you are out of touch with the less well off people in tis country.

are you suggesting that a significant percentage of 'less well off' people are homeless in the UK?

maybe give us an estimate so we have some substance to discuss

CLAPTON

chucky wrote: »

Why should people be taxed if they buy property as an investment!?

They may only need a 2 bed flat to live in but buy a 3 bed house because they see it as a better investment. Why should they be taxed for it?!

at the moment, UK residents pay cgt on profit from the sale of investment properties whilst, in general non-residents do not: seems an situation that could be changed

ukcarper

CLAPTON wrote: »

are you suggesting that a significant percentage of 'less well off' people are homeless in the UK?

maybe give us an estimate so we have some substance to discuss

I see you are going down your normal route of trying to put words in peoples mouths. The figures might not be large but to suggest that only people with mental illness and special circumstances are homeless is disingenuous.

BillJones

Bantex wrote: »

We should tax all residential property and land left empty.

When you go on holiday, or to the shops? What about when you are out at work? After all, you could share with someone on night shift...

What this always comes down to, of course, is that these calls basically call for the better off to pay higher taxes. This is not a good solution, as we already pay far too much.

Better to remove the personal allowance, tax every worker properly (perhaps starting at 20%), and use that to fund housebuilding.

You wouldn't mind paying the same tax rate as me after all, would you?

chucky

CLAPTON wrote: »

at the moment, UK residents pay cgt on profit from the sale of investment properties whilst, in general non-residents do not: seems an situation that could be changed

You miss the point.

I need to buy a 2 bedroom flat to live in but buy a 3 bedroom house because it is a better investment for me and probably won't use the 3rd bedroom. Why should I be taxed because I buy the house as an investment despite me living in it.

Individuals should be able to buy what they need. The exit taxes is where these investors should be penalised.