To leave this here when I can't reply

[Angelicinnocent]

Ok so I'm going away for a week and am waiting to board the plane but I've just heard about something I felt I should share even though I won't be able to respond.

Labour's manifesto includes the option to introduce a Land Value Tax if they get into power.

If they go ahead with this, it could treble council tax for anyone who owns their home, including pensioners on fixed incomes. It doesn't just apply to big plots of land, it includes the land that your house stands on and any little bit of garden that you have. Could very easily lead to pensioners having to sell their homes for little flats etc. Have a look on the internet and see what it could mean.

I never thought anything could make the Tories "dementia" tax look like the best option but this does.

Torybot...

Eh? In what world does a Tory majority of 12 at the last election constitute a landslide?

The Labour government of 1997 had a majority of 179 - that was a landslide! The 2015 election was a very narrow win for the Tories, when many (including David Cameron) expected another coalition.

If the Tories had really had a landslide victory at the last election, we wouldn't be having another one now.

Land value tax would enable us to extract money from the non-dom, non-taxpayers who have bought up most of London as a safe haven for their cash and who contribute not one penny to the coffers. Plus the big housebuilders hoarding land to artificially increase prices for their poky and limited developments. Oh, and people like the Duke of Westminster and Paul Dacre who own large swathes of the country would have to pay their share as well. Cry me a river.

It's something they may look into, it's not an actual plan, despite what the likes of the Telegraph might say.

Although I do think something needs to be done about landbanking (massive, rat infested eyesores) and foreign investment properties lying empty. What that thing is I do not know.

The housing market is a clusterfuck
No easy way to solve it
LVT would mean that wealthy property owners will take a big hit, as said, cry me a river...

However the wealthy have a lot of clout, I'd imagine theyd do all they can to block this?

This explains it quite well
m.youtube.com/watch?v=gD_dZvPwAj0

I've just read both of the reports that is supposed to be calming down the argument but I'm not convinced. We live in a rural area and have a large front and rear garden which is pretty typical of the area.

If the purpose behind this is to ensure that land isn't hoarded, then I have a problem. Due to the layout of my house, it wouldn't be possible build additional properties in either garden, let alone access them. Additionally, I don't consider this hoarding anyway. I have more sympathy for the argument if I was holding several properties, or buying up fields or whatever.

Even at the percentages quoted in the reports, we would likely still be looking at several thousand more in tax. We are currently in band F and pay over £2.5K a year, yet the village has no amenities - 2 buses a day, a pub and a hall. No shop, schools, drs etc

There also needs to be a break in the assumption in that if you have an "expensive" house, that you have funds to pay these taxes. Lots of houses have increased in value but the owners aren't any more cash rich than they were before. you then need to define what expensive is. We are mid-range where we live and that cost us a lot of money but the same amount in London, you would struggle to find a nice 3 bed.

I read a report that said that if your house was valued between £125K - £250K then there wouldn't be a lot of difference. That covers very few homes in the southern regions.

I appreciate that this is very much a work in progress but not knowing how they will value, %ages etc, is scary. (Yes I know, it's the same argument for the cap on social care, and means test for heating benefits).

I'm sick of the lot of them.

But, Corbyn not being a fit leader for the uk does not make May more so..

Is she really fit? Is she capable?

Or is she a laughing stock in Europe?

(She is laughing stock in Norway, having marginalized Britain
Corbyn is held more in esteem here. Not that it matters what other countries think. It did not matter to the US what the world thought about Trump, no comparison really but even so...
)

Of course it is policy - there is no way they can raise enough money from corporations and those earning over £80k. They have admitted it (even if you believe their manifesto costings) by adding more spending after the manifesto release. (free childcare and benefits freeze removal). If they do not raise income tax rates, then they only have this and/or lower tax thresholds.

John Mcdonell's website says

I'm advocating the replacement of Council Tax and business rates with a Land Value Tax. This is something long campaigned for by the Labour Land Campaign

YABVU to post and then not turn up to the debate. People don't like that sort of thing, you know.

May SAID she wasn't going to the debate last night, and didn't go.

Corbyn said he wasn't going, and DID.

So at least MAY stuck by what she said.

And let's face it, whatever May does, the far left will criticize her.

Corbyn talks the talk and is very placid and nice and charming and lovely. But Labour getting in will royally fuck up the country. I can't believe people can't see that (or admit it!)

People need to quit the gushing over Corbyn as it he's a fucking rock star, and get real. He will NOT make a good Prime Minister.

When Corbyn said he was going, May should have pulled out all the stops to get there too. A Prime Minister needs to be able to react to changes quickly and effectively.

Caroldecker, that's a blog post from 2007! The site doesn't appear to have been updated since 2012.

@stormtreader. It's not mandatory to go to these 'leader debates.' It's just Americanised garbage anyway, and the whole thing was a fucking mess anyway. May did herself (and the Tories) a favour by not going.

What's more, Corbyn said he wasn't going then just turned up at the last minute remember???!!! Or are you choosing to ignore that salient piece of information?

Here's an article written by Tim Worstall, senior fellow at the Adam Smith Institute. I don't think anybody ever has claimed the Adam Smith Institute is left-wing - they say about themselves - "The Institute is today at the forefront of making the case for free markets and a free society in the United Kingdom."

Land Value Tax is a great idea – but it’ll never happen

Bit of a quote from the article:

One reason to like this tax – as Milton Friedman pointed out – is that it’s the least distortionary tax there is. No one is making land any more, so we’re not going to reduce the supply of it by taxing it. That is true of everything else – tax apple consumption and people eat fewer apples, tax incomes and some work less, tax profits and people set up fewer businesses. But land is in fixed supply, so we’re not getting less as a result of gaining our necessary tax revenue from it.

It’s worth noting here that this doesn’t tax gardens – as the Tories are claiming. For you cannot build upon your garden, can you? If, however, you’ve planning permission to do so then the tax is due.
(my bolding)

So, Don't worry about your garden.

No, it isnt mandatory. Very little is.
It does mean that May had the chance to be questioned on her actual policies by the other leaders and members of the public, and she decided not to. To me, that shows weakness and uncertainty.

Its not as if you'll take anything I say on-board anyway though, you're as rigid and unreactive in your views as May is.

It's not going to affect the average homeowner, and it seems a perfectly sensible way of raising money to keep the NHS.

Meanwhile, Philip Hammond has been telling people that he doesn't care that councils regularly break the law in terms of their duties towards disabled children, because it saves money. Why aren't you publicising that, OP?

Glitter Doesn't mean he has changed his mind - it is in the manifesto

Whereyouleftit It will tax the value of your house plot - 2 identical houses, one with larger garden will pay more, so it will tax the garden.

It's not in the manifesto. They'd like to review it. It would be political suicide to do anything drastic and price average joe out of their home.

Anyway, labour will not win so who cares? It won't be happening.

Glitter They have no choice if they want to pay for their spending plans.

Tory panic setting in! What fun!

Here as some facts, rather than right-wing hysteria

<a class="break-all" href="//]fullfact.org/economy/labours-land-value-tax-will-you-have-sell-your-garden/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">]fullfact.org/economy/labours-land-value-tax-will-you-have-sell-your-garden/

Carol, do you really, truly believe that it would be feasible to charge everyone 3% of their property value each year (a figure pulled out of Boris Johnson's backside) which would result in millions of people unable to afford to stay in their homes, but unable to sell them either?

Next up, Tory HQ publicises Labour's plans to reintroduce the Window Tax.

Theresa, I'm sure you're worried but you really don't need to resort to this.

WhataBaklava That link has nothing more than has been said upthread. A land value based tax which will hit larger plots more than smaller dwellings. Fully endorsed by the Labour party and its leaders. Just because it is not a manifesto commitment does not mean they will not do it.

Waiting to board a plan my arse. Scare mongering Tory plant. Reported.

and for the third time today