Land tax.

Land tax (LVT) may be the best way of taxing capital and reducing house prices and economic instability. But the introduction of LVT will be disruptive and unfair, so it should be done slowly. In the short term, rent controls or expensive housing benefits are probably inevitable. “The housing crisis”, in Land tax, November 2017.

An increase in land tax would cause a decrease in the capital value of the land, so that the annual cost to the landowner stayed the same. The annual cost is property tax plus mortgage interest and /or the absence of interest on the owner’s investment in the property. September 2017, “Land Tax”, https://ammpol.wordpress.com/ammlt

The tax rate on the capital value of land should be kept within the same range as interest rates, so that no more than half of the cost is paid as tax. Pressure for maximum exploitation of land would be avoided, and there would still be reliable market information about capital values. Effectively half of the land would have been nationalised. Land Tax, Summer 2010.

The house price bubble of the last 7 years has been like a negative Jubilee. There has been a massive redistribution of wealth to landowners from everyone else. “UK bubble”, Land Tax, 2004.

Tags: Land tax.