Alistair Darling should levy a £5bn "empty property tax" on up to a million homes left vacant by absentee landlords, to help meet the costs of the financial crisis, trades unions will argue tomorrow.
The TUC is calling for the chancellor to create a 'empty property tax'. They suggest a five times the usual council tax to be charged onthe nearly one million residential properties currently empty. This would see an anual charge of approximately £5,800 per year.
The TUC would also like to see see overseas landlords charged UK income tax on rental payments unless they can prove they are paying it in their home country.
Read more in this article in the ObserverLandlord tax bookshop
First of all, what do they know is wrong with the property in the first place?
ReplyDeleteThe property could be uninhabitable for a number of reasons. Instead of the Government to work with landlords to bring their empty homes back into good living conditions and occupation, all the Government knows how to do is poke their noses into other people's affairs.
In the meantime, there are hundreds of Government owned Council poroperties which have been left empty for years, while people are homeless in the streets.
Will the Councils be charged a levy for keeping these houses empty and available for squatters to occupy for years while living there for FREE with no income in terms of rent or Council tax for the Council?
Smells like double standards to me!