vince cable
-
Latest property news
Autumn Statement: 40,000 new homes promised
40,000 new homes on their way – that was a good start to The Chancellor’s Autumn Statement. The Government has, again, increased its drive for more affordable housing to help to address what he described as a chronic shortage. The Chancellor echoed the pledge by Theresa May, the Prime Minister, to ensure the economy “works for everyone.” Philip Hammond said that the Government had made great efforts but now must go even further, announcing a further £1.4bn funding injection to help thousands more families to buy a home. The Government says that 40,000 new homes will be built as a result of the funding injection, which, with the Help to Buy Equity Loan Scheme and the Help to Buy ISA, will be used to help first-time buyers, sharing owners who wish to move on. He said that they will abandon the rigid framework set by the current Affordable Homes Programme, with the £4.3bn of current and £1.4bn of additional funding allocated “flexibly” between existing shared ownership and affordable rent schemes. Previous plans indicated that 88pc of funds would be used to build at least 135,000 homes for shared ownership, which are targeted at families with incomes of £80,000 or less,…
Read More » -
Guest Blogs
Mansion Tax
Vince Cable’s pet hobbyhorse, Mansion Tax, is daft, irresponsible and unworkable – apart from that, a great idea! It will have such a profound effect on the £1m plus residential property sector that a great deal of the revenue/foreign investment earned by Stamp Duty, VAT, Income and Corporation Tax, through estate agents earnings, will be lost. What Cable thinks he will receive by way of £1.6bn revenue for the Exchequer will be dwarfed by what he will lose. Remember, that on a typical £2m house, if the tax is one per cent, it will equate to £20,000 that requires approximately £40,000 to be earned. So effectively, in order to open the door of your £2m house, which, if you are lucky will be in pre-tax earnings, you have a huge burden before you even turn the lights on. And, if you consider that this probably will apply to a 2000sqft property, perhaps 1000sqft in the better parts of London, this cost will be penal and there will be an exodus of wealthy buyers fleeing to Monaco, Dubai, Geneva and anywhere else to escape this harsh regime. As it is, an American family of four will pay a levy of £200,000…
Read More »
