When people are struggling with the bedroom tax, this is disgusting; millionaires row

[Ubik1]

I'm not sure if this has already been linked to but

are pictures of Bishops Avenue mansions fallen into disrepair because no one lives in them

These mansions are registered to companies based in tax havens meaning the owners can remain anonymous and avoid stamp duty.

Ubik1....nice propaganda, but unfortunately you are incorrect on WHICH political party has done more to ensure that foreigners, especially rich foreigners, who have been buying around 50% of all the UK homes in London over £1 million for well over a decade now, not only pays MORE Stamp Tax, but will also next year, pay Capital Gains Tax when they sell.

“In March 2012, Osborne raised a transaction tax known as stamp duty to 7 percent from 5 percent for homes priced at 2 million pounds or more. The government also levied a 15 percent tax on residential real estate valued at more than 2 million pounds bought using companies set up to avoid taxes.”

“The U.K. plans to impose capital-gains taxes on home sales by non-residents starting in April 2015 as the government seeks to raise revenue and avert unsustainable increases in London property prices.”

www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-12-05/osborne-to-extend-capital-gains-tax-to-foreign-u-k-home-buyers.html

In 1997, when the average national price of a home was £73k, the housing Stamp Tax was a flat 1%, but Brown/Labour ensured that every U.K. resident paid more, especially ‘the squeezed middle’ buying average family homes. I don't believe that they mentioned that in their 1997 General Election manifesto, or the raiding of private pensions, or the selling of 40% of our gold, but feel free to correct me on that.

What's privately owned houses got to do with bedroom tax?

Why is it that these companies can avoid stamp duty? Why us it that these houses can be allowed to fall into ruin when there's such a housing shortage?

I know that needs of big business seems to trump moral questions...but when the guy durn the road from me cannot store his dialysis equipment his 'spare' room, it seems a little unfair that these companies are allowed to evade tax when the poorest have to pay more.

That's all.

The two things are unrelated.

No agenda here.....

Fuck CGT; that's not enough. In the USA they have a real estate tax payable yearly by all property owners. We need a bit of that going on here; would soon sort out the parasites.

Yes, because owning a home makes automatically makes people parasites

No, but landlords and the tax-avoiders above are parasites, and need to put a bit back into the economy instead of always being on the take.

I bet the fuckers don't even pay council tax (which incidentally would only have them be liable for the same amount as a person whose house was worth something like a squillion times less than theirs).

I'm very confused.

What is this thread about?

The link in the OP doesn't work.

this is the article in the Guardian and it doesn't mention stamp duty.

I remember in the 80s (I think) some of the houses on Bishops Ave were squatted, a much better use for them than sitting empty.

Oh dear...I susiect they have had to change the story

The Guardian has missed it’s timing here, as properties have been bough up to 25-years ago, usually by oil rich royal families.

If there was going to be a State land/property compulsory purchase order in a prime area, where the local council would have been responsible for making them liveable, never mind converting each home into a block of multi dwellings and then maintaining the structures and grounds – it would have been under Labour, when there was no upper limit on monthly Housing Benefits – and where robbing taxpayer Peter, to pay less to taxpayer Paul, was their idea of a sustainable housing situation.

Under Labour Capital Gains Tax was ‘tapered’ in 1998, which depending on the asset, it allowed time to reduce the owners tax bill, by up to 75%, so only paid any tax on 25% of their profit. In 2007/8 Brown thought that was too generous and brought in a flat18% on asset chargeable gains.

Under the coalition, in June 2010 THEY raised the Capital Gains Tax to 28%, with the view of taking it higher later as it should be more in line with the higher income tax rates.

What kind of Labour tax policy is leaving the top rate of income tax for nearly 13-years whilst in power unchanged at 40%, but leaving the Capitalist Gains Tax at 18%???

Anyway the coalition is going much further than Labour by increasing the initial Stamp Tax to 7% from 5%, levied a 15 percent tax on residential real estate valued at more than 2 million pounds bought using companies set up to avoid taxes – and introduced a Capital Gains Tax on profits from 2015, at a HIGHER rate under Labour, even if they would have implement one.

Finally if Labour would have done something about building council/social homes by 2008/9, the coalition would not have tried to alleviate the bedroom shortage for growing families, by freeing up those bedrooms not used further up the bedroom chain i.e. at least 1.7 million households awaiting social housing, 645,000 households overcrowded, before LABOUR left power.

england.shelter.org.uk/campaigns/why_we_campaign/the_housing_crisis

The link has gone.

Perfectly good houses, especially in areas where there is work etc, being allowed to stand idle and often fall into disrepair makes me annoyed whatever the size of the house.

I think even more of a scandal is 'buy to sit'. I don't mind BTL too much because the homes are being lived in but I do object to 'buy to sit' where property is sold only as an investment, often to overseas buyers. Not lived in, not rented out, just sitting empty as a safe place to store your money.