The more the Tories try to do for housing the more they prove that they are completely out of touch, and more to the point do not give a damn about fixing what is the *real* single issue -- and that is the fact that houses are unbelievably overpriced in this country, and especially the south-east. I've always been more right-wing and pro-Tory but the one single thing I care about in politics nowadays is the housing market. I'm 30yrs old, myself and my girlfriend are both senior managers in well-known multinational companies.. even we can't afford anything. And more to the point, we're not prepared to pay £450k for a 2 bedroom flat, even if the bank would lend us that much. It's madness.
It seems far more likely that Comrade Corbyn is going to suit my needs.. I've posted this before but we need to fix the *real* issue which is overpriced houses.. rather than prop up prices with HTB schemes, FTB ISAs and other such nonsense we should do things like this:
- Tax second homes, massively
- Bigger council tax bills for second homes (not a discount for crying out loud!)
- Wipe out all tax breaks for landlords
- Create better legislation for tenants (longer tenancies, better protection etc.)
- Introduce rent control, i.e. prevent rents increasing more than RPI+1%
- Seize empty homes that have been bought to simply rise in value and make a profit for their absent owners
- Ban 'companies' buying homes and all the tax dodges that go with it
- Ban foreigner nationals buying properties (before you cry 'racist' why should somebody who lives in another country
need to own a home in Central London?)
- Better legislation against NIMBYs worried about their houses dropping in value and preventing more homes being built
- Prevent housebuilders from marketing properties overseas (with Boris in tow
)
before London
- Potential owner-occupiers should get priority over
all BTL offers in the marketplace, by default. No questions
- Reward pensioners for downsizing
