Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat
Smallhold Farming and Rural Living => Livestock and Growing on a larger scale => Topic started by: John on September 28, 2010, 23:50
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I think a lot of us would like a place with some land but the big problem - as with housing generally - is cost.
So, a modest proposal to reduce the cost of rural housing for all, five fold council tax on second homes. That should bring the prices down a bit :)
Discuss (as teacher used to say)
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Ciricumstance in the last couple of years has led me to own two properties - (my deceased parents) and now the one i have just moved from before selling it - I found/find it a right cheek having to pay council tax on a property I actually am not drawing on any council resources to run (as well as being appreciatively lucky to be in that situation)- if I had to pay so much extra well - I probably couldn't afford the place I have moved to now. (I did/do pay the other council tax) - I have been stunned how much costs/taxes and general attitude of 'give me a piece' has been in evidence working through estate and probate
The problem is not second homes - its tax avoidance/evasion on income earned - if everyone paid proportionately what they earned (allegedly the most fairest tax) - what does it matter how many houses someone owns after that? (unless your arguing housing shortage of course), but everyone does not pay all their taxes - and thats the rub.
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Your circumstances are different Acat............but people that go to buy a country cottage for weekends and holidays, cause a severe shortage of homes, and so raised prices for the people who were born/work in that area.
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yep agree about that - I too was priced out of my village by the upward price spiral!!
I was just trying to clarify that that second home ownership is a housing problem not a tax issue!1
:)
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Cat,
Second home ownership certainly is a housing problem but I understood the point being made, was that by charging people an excessive amount of council tax to own houses in remote rural areas which are occupied probably no more than 25 - 30 days of the year, councils might deter this behaviour thus releasing housing stock and sending accomodation business in the direction of the local trades.
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I appreciate the point - but its a blunt instrument to tackle the problem - not that I have any solutions!!
:)
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Council tax is a very controversial subject. The tax is on our home is £1400 and for that we get our bins emptied. We have no street lights. no main sewerage, no pavements, no road maintenance, no school and are miles from anywhere so no access to many services. I don't begrudge paying it but it should be proportional to the services you recieve. I do agree that second homes should be taxed in some way to make people think twice and therefore keep homes in rural areas for the local people.
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I appreciate the point - but its a blunt instrument to tackle the problem - not that I have any solutions!!
:)
I agree it's a blunt instrument but government effected social policy by means of tax and incentives rather than law strikes me as fairer in that it maintains freedom of choice, albeit constrained. For example the increments in stamp duty 'punish' high house prices.
Of course, my 'modest proposal' does nothing to stop people selling their flat in London for megabucks and outbidding every local in the village. Look at Cornwall, high unemployment, low wages yet high house prices due to retirees from the city.
In your own position, inheriting a house, perhaps some clause allowing a grace period to enable it to be sold or let long term at a fair rent - although I'm not even sure that private rental is that good an idea without the competition of a strong public housing sector with available properties.
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Can I share an article with you that blew my mind?
A horrible truth is that land in the UK is not in the least "scarce"... As follows:
"The United Kingdom is 60 million acres in size,
of which 41 million are designated "agricultural" land, 15 million are "waste" (forests, rivers, mountains and so on) and owned mainly by the Ministry of Defence and the Forestry Commission, and four million are "urban plot", the land on which most of the 60 million people of these islands live. In sum, 69 per cent of the acreage of Britain is owned by 0.6 per cent of the population. Or, more pertinently, 158,000 families own 41 million acres of land while 24 million families live on four million acres."
The UK population only lives on 4million acres, .... no wonder the price is high!
From:
http://www.newstatesman.com/200409200005
(That article had me baying for land reform, I can tell you!!)
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Come the revolution comrades :)
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Come the revolution comrades :)
I'll grab my pitchfork!!!! ;)
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Of course, my 'modest proposal' does nothing to stop people selling their flat in London for megabucks and outbidding every local in the village. Look at Cornwall, high unemployment, low wages yet high house prices due to retirees from the city.
You could argue that this is exactly what we did, except the house we bought had been empty for over 30 years and when it was put on the market, it had been for sale for over 18 months before we bought it. Those very thoughts about depriving locals of a house were considered and discounted in this case.
:)
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Come the revolution comrades :)
I'll grab my pitchfork!!!! ;)
Do Londoners have pitchforks? ??? Aren't they a bit, well, rural? :unsure: I suppose Oyster cards aren't much use in a revolution ..... :blink:
Only pulling your leg ...... :D :D
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We have acres of farmland round here that just lies fallow year upon year. Drives me mad - I could be using some of that! :( Some balancing out needs to be done - thousands of people want to grow stuff and there are thousands of acres of land doing nothing. Is the solution too obvious? :unsure:
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That's annoys us too. The amount of land on set aside, when our chickens could be running around on it!!
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Come the revolution comrades :)
I'll grab my pitchfork!!!! ;)
Do Londoners have pitchforks? ??? Aren't they a bit, well, rural? :unsure: I suppose Oyster cards aren't much use in a revolution ..... :blink:
Only pulling your leg ...... :D :D
:tongue2:
That made me giggle... started wondering how oyster cards could be useful in a mellee... could only come up with sharpening slightly to deliver annoying paper cuts :-)
Ahhh, but i'm a rural girl, trapped in an urban sprawl... but I've got an azada and I intend to use it!!! LOL :)
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Ever had a case of plot envy?
Well, on a larger scale... Can you imagine everyone in the UK being offered a hectare of land, for free?
(It would plummet the housing market though!)
http://saltspringnews.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=19574