Land Tax Could Trigger 'House-Building Revolution'

A left-wing think tank has launched a paper calling for a land value tax to help deliver a ‘house-building revolution’. The Centre for Labour and Social Studies (CLASS) suggests a land value tax could replace business rates and stamp duty, and should be levied on all land except where it lies under people’s homes.  ‘Very wealthy homeowners should pay, but those with limited incomes could defer payment where required,’ the report ‘In land revenue: The case for a land value tax in the UK’ states. The paper says the tax should end land speculation which means higher land prices and a lack of land for building.  Download a copy of the report from the CLASS website.

Government 'Must Change Housing Policy'

There must be a change in attitude and policy from the government to stop only lower income families living in social homes and the decline of availability of properties.  A new report from left-wing think tank the Centre for Labour and Social Studies (CLASS) has outlined a radical 11-point plan to address what it perceived as the failure of the UK’s housing market. This includes the ‘residualisation’ of social housing.  The report says the attitude of ‘scapegoating’ social housing tenants and ‘fetishising’ home ownership should end to help increase the supply, quality and price of genuinely affordable rented accommodation.  The report also calls on the regulation of the private rented sector as part of ‘a new approach’ to housing.  Download a copy of the paper from the CLASS website.