Petition: introduce penalties for unused land / property

nb0825

Dear all,

I'm starting a petition and hope I could get some of your support.

Click this link to sign the petition:
https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/170521/sponsors/V2assF9Vpq6uN5oeTJl

My petition:
Introduce penalties for unused land and property near urban areas.
We face an unprecedented housing shortage in our country which is reflected by sky-high house prices and a generation of renters. Penalties should be introduced for owners who refuse to make proper use of the land or property they own, to help communities grow.




Context:

*** The Independent (2013) says that 50% of scotland is owned by 432 families. Of all the farmland in Scotland only 24% is occupied (Barbers rural, 2012)
According to Country life (2010), of the 10 biggest landowners in the UK, 2 of them are Dukes. The Duke of Buccleuch & Queensberry in Dumfriesshire, Bowhill in Selkirk-shire, Boughton in Northamptonshire and Dalkeigh Palace, on the outskirts of Edinburgh and the The Duke of Atholl in Perthshire (none of these are in London).

***



In 2012, the UK National Ecosystem Assessment found only 2.27% of England's landscape has been physically built on. The urban landscape accounts for 10.6% of England, 1.9% of Scotland, 3.6% of Northern Ireland and 4.1% of Wales.



Since the Halifax began tracking historical UK house prices in 1983: House prices have risen nationally by 428%. London house prices are up by 559%.

*** UPDATE (2) ***

This is aimed at the large land owners in this country (aristocracy), not normal citizens that own second houses or a small farm (Credit to davidmcn). I've removed the daily mail after many complaints

Guest101

Im not sure the aristocracy are going to be worried about penalties imposed - given the fining levels

davidmcn

You'll need to make up your mind what the petition is about - is it "land which isn't being used properly", "land owned by aristrocracy", or "land which hasn't been built on"?

(and if you want any sort of credibility, best not to cite the Daily Mail)

agrinnall

Who are you to say that the land is not being used "properly"?

jimbog

What about my garden? Bits of it are unused near the shed

G_M

Saw the reference to the DM and immediatey stopped reading.

G_M

jimbog wrote: »

What about my garden? Bits of it are unused near the shed

I'd be OK as the rabbits use that bit of land in my garden to build their homes there.

moneyistooshorttomention

I wouldnt dispute there is a problem - eg of people having second homes or foreign investors buying places (eg in London) and not even bothering to rent them out (ie because they are just using them as a place to store some "savings" in effect and deliberately out to make a profit from a country that isn't even their own).

I wonder how one separates those factors out from Joe and Jane Average in the street on the other hand - eg who own a second property because they are two "singles" that have got married to each other or a bit of land someone is keeping as an allotment for themselves.

That's the thing - ie how to differentiate between the two groups and this is where a "broad brush" approach needs to tackle group 1, whilst not affecting group 2.

DaftyDuck

jimbog wrote: »

What about my garden? Bits of it are unused near the shed

Why aren't you renting the shed??? :mad: I used to live in an old water tank on a rubbish tip... luxury, it were...

... you try and tell the young people today...

PersianCatLady

Actually it makes sense to have some land in towns left improperly used because if they squash any more housing into my town then soon the road network and the public services will be full to capacity.

nb0825

Apply the penalty rule only to people that own more than say 10 acres of land or more than 10 properties