Should empty homes be taxed?

Should empty homes be taxed?

10:22 AM, 20th October 2022, About 2 years ago 13

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Hi everyone, Would it not be a good idea to tax properties that are left empty and disincentivise them from remaining outside the available housing stock?

A residential property, in my opinion, should not be used purely as an investment as it should be used firstly as a home while the housing crisis is at such a peak.

Unlike the owner-occupiers, landlords provide homes that provide large tax incomes for the government which if used to build affordable housing would then help towards repairing the at best tarnished image of the landlord.

Should this not be government policy as opposed to punishing home-providing landlords?

Jos


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Jessie Jones

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10:35 AM, 22nd October 2022, About 2 years ago

Hi Jos, as others have already said, empty properties are already taxed at, typically, twice the rate of an occupied property.

In terms of incentivising landlords to put property back into 'housing stock' it may be more helpful to look at what dis-incentivises this.
'Rogue tenants' can do enormous amounts of financial damage to a landlord. Renting a property to a tenant is not especially rewarding after mortgage interest payments, maintenance and Section 24 tax. Landlords such as myself are mainly interested in providing a financial footing for their children, and it is the capital value of property which is the primary benefit, not the rental return. So taking on the risk of having a tenant has to be balanced against the relatively small financial advantages. For those property owners who are mortgage free and therefore do not need a rental income to service their debt, the prospect of a rogue tenant may well be too much. Regulations around EPC, HHSRS, the looming Decent Homes Standard, and the proposed changes to the eviction process do not need to be considered when there is no tenant present. Nor is there a risk of the property being trashed, or being countersued for a minor infraction of the deposit rules or selective licensing rules.
Every new piece of legislation that is designed to look like the government is looking after tenants actually has the opposite effect, as landlords change their property use to an Air BnB, a second home, or mothball it entirely.

That is not to say that tenancies should be unregulated, only that there needs to be a better balance so that neither 'rogue landlords' nor 'rogue tenants' have some sort of upper hand. EPC / HHSRS rules across rented and owner occupied should be the same, and a property business should be treated the same as any other business from a tax perspective.

Rob Moore

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0:08 AM, 23rd October 2022, About 2 years ago

Yes. Empty residential property is at a premium in our society so should allow value to accumulate to the government not landlord for vacancy. We should have 0% tax for 2 months to enable a new tenant finding and then be taxed at 1% property value per annum pro rata when vacant. This will ensure the landlord rents at a price subject to current market value and cannot sit on a property without consequence as vacant

Jessie Jones

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17:18 PM, 23rd October 2022, About 2 years ago

Reply to the comment left by Rob Moore at 23/10/2022 - 00:08
Rob, your suggestion is probably quite close to the current tax situation, maybe a touch on the side of a lower tax.
Thinking of my own properties, a double rate council tax is a little more than 1% of the property value in addition to the normal council tax rate.

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