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That hasn't worked out well for ordinary renters in the UK. Under Thatcher "right to buy" council houses (public housing) was brought in, in the 80s - at the s

by stuaxo 6y ago

That hasn't worked out well for ordinary renters in the UK. Under Thatcher "right to buy" council houses (public housing) was brought in, in the 80s - at the same time, councils pretty much stopped building to replace the housing stock that was taken. Rents have increased massively above inflation, and waiting lists have soared to over 20 years in some cases for the council houses that are left. Meanwhile, developers build large amounts of "luxury flats" which are sold to foreign investors who often keep them empty. https://londonist.com/london/housing/how-many-vacant-empty-homes-london https://londonist.com/london/housing/how-many-vacant-empty-h... According to the above article 22,000 empty homes in London, but it wouldn't surprise me if there were many more.

eru 6y ago
The UK is actually a good example _for_ what I said: it's really hard to build in London and the wider UK. See eg https://www.economist.com/britain/2017/02/11/britains-delusions-about-the-green-belt-cause-untold-misery https://www.economist.com/britain/2017/02/11/britains-delusi... or https://www.economist.com/leaders/2017/08/03/how-to-solve-britains-housing-crisis https://www.economist.com/leaders/2017/08/03/how-to-solve-br... About the empty homes: they could start by abolishing the empty-home and single-occupier discounts for council tax. (If you want to go further, instead of just abolishing those discounts, replace them with extra tax charges for unoccupied property.) And then jack up the council tax by a lot. The council tax is unpopular, but actually virtually free for renters, its economic burden falls almost completely on landlords. (You can perhaps see that easier with a simple thought experiment: imagine there was a cut in council tax, rents on new leases would go up almost immediately, until the total cost to the renter is the same as before. Of course, a thought experiment is not a prove. Just an illustration.) Even better than the council tax would be a land value tax. But they could make slight tweaks to the council tax to get closer. If those 'evil foreigners' paid lots of taxes on their empty flats, no one would need to mind: We can build up high enough, if there are enough permits, to afford a few empty homes. Especially if the foreign owners of those empty homes were to finance our government expenditures with their generous tax payments.
JAlexoid 6y ago
I used to live in London... and the fact that Tower Hamlets council tax was LOWER than slightly farther out of the city centre is ridiculous. The luxury flats had no effect on supply - because it wasn't nearly enough. Getting government approvals is hard and then you have low council taxes in London. And closer to the city centre - the lower the council taxes! Let alone - 22k is literally a drop in the bucket. It wouldn't make a damn difference in a city of 10mil!

by stuaxo 6y ago

eru 6y ago

The UK is actually a good example _for_ what I said: it's really hard to build in London and the wider UK. See eg https://www.economist.com/britain/2017/02/11/britains-delusions-about-the-green-belt-cause-untold-misery https://www.economist.com/britain/2017/02/11/britains-delusi... or https://www.economist.com/leaders/2017/08/03/how-to-solve-britains-housing-crisis https://www.economist.com/leaders/2017/08/03/how-to-solve-br... About the empty homes: they could start by abolishing the empty-home and single-occupier discounts for council tax. (If you want to go further, instead of just abolishing those discounts, replace them with extra tax charges for unoccupied property.) And then jack up the council tax by a lot. The council tax is unpopular, but actually virtually free for renters, its economic burden falls almost completely on landlords. (You can perhaps see that easier with a simple thought experiment: imagine there was a cut in council tax, rents on new leases would go up almost immediately, until the total cost to the renter is the same as before. Of course, a thought experiment is not a prove. Just an illustration.) Even better than the council tax would be a land value tax. But they could make slight tweaks to the council tax to get closer. If those 'evil foreigners' paid lots of taxes on their empty flats, no one would need to mind: We can build up high enough, if there are enough permits, to afford a few empty homes. Especially if the foreign owners of those empty homes were to finance our government expenditures with their generous tax payments.

JAlexoid 6y ago

I used to live in London... and the fact that Tower Hamlets council tax was LOWER than slightly farther out of the city centre is ridiculous. The luxury flats had no effect on supply - because it wasn't nearly enough. Getting government approvals is hard and then you have low council taxes in London. And closer to the city centre - the lower the council taxes! Let alone - 22k is literally a drop in the bucket. It wouldn't make a damn difference in a city of 10mil!