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One of the key issues that Labour will need to resolve is how to match their aspirations to expand the construction of (social) housing with the geographical and demographic 'housing need'... but as Alex Lord (ULiverpool) notes, currently housing need is a crude & undifferentiated metric to work from.
Really assessing & then targeting a more nuanced depiction of housing need, should help Angela Rayner deliver on her promise(s) & get the right dwellings built!
#housing
https://theconversation.com/no-government-in-half-a-century-has-built-300-000-homes-every-year-but-thats-what-labour-wants-to-do-now-236442
@ChrisMayLA6 so long as she doesn't let the big builders convince her that high quality housing is far too expensive to build.
It adds very little to the cost of a building about £1k to make it reach passivhus standard, so compared to the builders profit a flea bite.
But instead social housing becomes cheap for the poor to live in. So adds to the local economy as the poor spend most of their income.
There is so much more that should be done https://mastodon.social/@urlyman/112877569716857593
I *think* I recall there was some talk on both, 1. Crack down on multiple home ownership &
2. Crack down on vacant property at some point in the past, but as yet nothing concrete being suggested... your last point on environmental standards is interesting - see also @epistatacadam - not least of all for a small investment, one might see some wider useful economic effects
nothing concrete while pouring concrete https://mastodon.social/@urlyman/112749947582347290
@ChrisMayLA6 @urlyman @epistatacadam We've had penalties on empty and 2nd homes for a while in Wales. It has gotten housing back into circulation or sold. 2nd homes has been trickier. When the penalties came in everyone's 2nd home turned business. When that gap was plugged some couples started each claiming one house was their primary home and asking for 1 person discounts
The third accidental house hogger though is property rich pensioners with no easy way out of big houses they can't maintain.
@etchedpixels penalties of what nature/structure?
@urlyman @ChrisMayLA6 @epistatacadam Empty and second homes pay council tax multipliers. There are also rules to stop you turning it into fake never rented airbnb and other tricks. The most recent attempt to crack down is centred around making 2nd home a planning change of use.
In some pressure spots other things are also being done, like requiring the property can only be the primary residence and cannot be let as a restrictive covenant placed on some new builds
@ChrisMayLA6 @urlyman @epistatacadam most vacant property is in probate or owned by people in long-term care. A mechanism for dealing with the remainder would be useful however there is already an empty homes premium in the Council Tax system. (UK)
@Soupdragon interesting. Thanks. However council tax is but one lever.
e.g. Stamp duty calibrated to housing demand within a local authority might unlock housing stock. If we’re worried about ‘unfairness’ it could be phased in so people have time to sell up before the hit. Which would lower prices.
But being unfair on people who already have too much is better than being unfair on people who have too little
@Soupdragon @ChrisMayLA6 @urlyman @epistatacadam There have been mechanisms for dealing with empty homes for years (CPO EDMO, section 17 etc). There's no money to use them is the problem there.
@ChrisMayLA6 @urlyman @epistatacadam it would also be useful to be able to liquidate properties in long-term probate. When you have a semi that hasn't been maintained for ten years it can become a problem due to vandalism, infestation, deterioration etc.
@ChrisMayLA6 @urlyman @epistatacadam plans in #YorkshireDales to double #CouncilTax on empty properties and second homes .. not sure it will make any difference but may free up some of these for longer term lets. https://www.yorkshiredales.org.uk/ydnpa-supports-second-homes-council-tax-premium/
@stuffjolikes @ChrisMayLA6 @epistatacadam
As with an exponentially rising frequent flyer tax for flying, *exponentially* rising taxation for multiple home ownership would be a start. Council tax is but one lever
@urlyman @stuffjolikes @ChrisMayLA6 why only "exponentially rising", hyperbolically rising would effectively ban second homes in a finite time. Not sure how the crown and government (& many MPs) would cope! I think the monarch has more than two homes. And PM certainly does.
@stuffjolikes @ChrisMayLA6 @urlyman @epistatacadam
I think all UK Councils should double the Council Tax on 2nd Homes with any luck the owners will sell up and free up some homes for the locals.
Newby here, Following you, any chance of a Follow back?
@urlyman @epistatacadam @ChrisMayLA6 I would add to that list -- overhaul the Right to Buy scheme so there's no discount apart from rent paid to date, and the money raised can (only?) be used to build more social housing.
Great point on the positive effect on 'effective demand' of better housing at lower prices for the poor....
@ChrisMayLA6 the fascinating thing is if you raise the standard for the poorest in society, everyone gains, and in this case our energy consumption would fall, with the benefits for the globe and perhaps our population too!
definitely how Keynes saw it....