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UK land rights are much different then the US owing to their history of kings and lords. You don't pay property tax[1] on the land you hold. As a result there i
by seanalltogether 14y ago
UK land rights are much different then the US owing to their history of kings and lords. You don't pay property tax[1] on the land you hold. As a result there isn't much incentive to ever sell your land. Since other people still want to live on your land though you set up a deal so that they can build houses and live on that land, but they have to pay you rent. You are effectively a landlord in the truest sense of the word.
[1] If you rent out your land you start paying property tax, the government wants there own piece of that pie.
- Nursie 14y agoI would point out that outside of London this is not exactly common.
- seanalltogether 14y agoThe entire crown estate is held as a lease holding, and they have a lot of property in England. I know that in Northern Ireland there are many semi-detached houses on leasehold.
- petercooper 14y agoThis is not false but the majority of people and properties are freehold, not leasehold. Around 3 million properties are leasehold, the majority are flats, with 1 million being houses. There are about 25 million residential properties overall, so leasehold is only about 12% of the market. Plus, in the UK there are certainly liabilities for holding land that has a residential property on it. As the landowner, you'll be paying the council tax on it if you have no tenants, and with many councils now, that'll be a more expensive rate too (currently 150% of the standard rate for unoccupied property in my area). Of course, council tax isn't really a property tax, though it can act like one in some situations and basically covers similar things that US property taxes do.