> Shouldn't the new houses have lower tax then? Why would developers lobby for lower taxes on old houses? Sorry if my first comment was a bit coy and unclear.

> Shouldn't the new houses have lower tax then? Why would developers lobby for lower taxes on old houses? Sorry if my first comment was a bit coy and unclear. Both ancestor comments are about Australia & Belgium. Google tells me that in Australia new properties are incentivized over old: >Grant: First home buyers can access a $10,000 grant when purchasing or constructing a new home, regardless of how much the property is worth. Stamp duty concessions: The territory government provides an up to $18,601 Territory Home Owner Discount (THOD) on stamp duty costs for first-time buyers. My Aussie friends tell me this changes frequently, that it also differs by state, but some sort of incentive to prefer new properties have been policy for a long time. GP says that Belgium penalizes existing houses: >a 6% tax for an old house (10% up until very recently) So there aren't lower taxes on older properties in either country. You get a discount on the taxes only when you purchase a new property, which is an incentive in alignment with the interests of property developers.