“Land for the Many” report threatens radical change…

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Land Taxes:

Yesterday’s launch of Labour’s Land for the Many report – see link below – sets out radical policies which if implemented would have far reaching consequesnces for many land owners, home owners and buy-to-let landlords.

The report by lead author George Monbiot, Guardian columnist and the author of “Feral, The Age of Consent and Out of the Wreckage: a New Politics for an Age of Crisis�. Mr Monbiot says in a recent article for the Guardian, “Want to tackle inequality? Then first change land ownership laws.�

Among the many proposed reforms: publishing all information
about land ownership – “who benefits most from our current unequal arrangements�
– giving councils the power to sell vacant land by public auction, local planning
juries, and boosting democratic participation in planning processes. Plus lots
of other radical proposals, all aimed at “delivering a fundamental shift in
wealth and power from the few to the many�. All of these proposals says Labour
will be considered for inclusion in the next Labour Party manifesto.

Ending the “Buy-to-let
frenzy�

Chapter 3 of the report recommends major reforms of the
private rented sector, for example, tenancies would be open-ended, and
landlords would lose their power to evict a tenant who has not broken the terms
of the tenancy agreement for the first three years of the tenancy agreement,
and would have to provide grounds for eviction after that point.

There would be a cap on annual permissible rent increases,
at no more than the rate of wage inflation or consumer price inflation (whichever
is lower), and Buy-to-let mortgages would be more firmly regulated and
restricted.

There would also be a commitment to an ambitious social
house building programme, and there are suggested changes to the system of land
assembly and community ownership. It is recommend that the Land Compensation
Act is reformed to enable development corporations and other public authorities
to acquire land at prices closer to its “current use value�, rather than its
potential future residential value. This, says the report, could reduce the
cost of building genuinely affordable housing by up to 50%.

“Progressive and efficient tax reform”

To discourage “the use of homes as financial assets�, reduce
the tax paid by the majority of households, and encourage more efficient use of
the housing stock, the report urges a Labour government to replace Council Tax
with a progressive property tax. This would be payable by owners, not tenants.

The valuation of properties for tax purposes would be
updated annually, and empty homes and second homes would automatically be taxed
at a higher rate. It is also recommending a surcharge for all properties owned
by those who are not resident in the UK for tax purposes.

Stamp Duty Land Tax would be phased-out for those buying
homes to live in themselves, and capital gains tax for second homes and
investment properties would be increased. It is recommend by this report that
inheritance tax would be abolished, to be replaced with a lifetime gifts tax
levied on the recipient.

Business rates would be replaced by a Land Value Tax,
calculated on the basis of the rental value of local commercial land, and farmland
would be reserved for farmers only to prevent it from being used for tax
avoidance and speculation we proposes – a new English Land Commission would
review all tax exemptions given to landowners. The aim would be to “restrain fiscal
privileges without harming family farms.� The removal of similar tax exemptions
on woodlands and forestry would also be considered.

An Offshore Company Property Tax would be payable by
companies based, or beneficially owned, in secrecy jurisdictions. The report also
recommends that an increase in the Annual Enveloped Property Tax and a removal of
the exemption for properties under £500,000.

Land for the Many report

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