E-petition for Land Value Taxation on HM Government web site Follow this link

We had thought that the Liberal Democrats' proposal for a "mansion tax" had died but seemingly it has not. Vince Cable, the Liberal Democrat Business Secretary, is pushing for a mansion tax to be introduced on properties worth more than £2million in this year’s Budget. This would apparently be on top of the Council Tax. Critics claim that poor widows would be driven from their homes and that the tax is unfair - the usual nonsense. Our objection is that it is ill-conceived, arbitrary at the margin, an unnecessary complication and only addresses - and then poorly - one of the problems that arises from the absence of a proper direct tax on the rental value of land. It is everything a tax should not be.

Vince Cable is supposed to know all about Land Value Taxation and hosted a meeting himself on the subject at the House of Commons a couple of years ago. Given the go-ahead, LVT would take a couple of years to put in place and it would then replace all other existing property taxes. For the time being, or if proper LVT is off-limits, the Council Tax could be adjusted so that the present ratio of payments between the bottom and top band properties was increased from the present 1: 3 to something that more closely reflected the ratio of the property values.

What is wrong with Britain's politicians that they cannot see the simple and obvious?

Daily Telegraph article and video

Dear Caroline Lucas,

I was disturbed to see that Richard Murphy mentioned your name in connection with his economic proposals for growth, which he outlined in an article in the Guardian yesterday.

The Campaign as such cannot have a view on the subject of Scottish independence. However, Scotland, like many parts of the rest of the UK, is far from the main centres of population and suffers as a consequence from geographical disadvantage and the associated higher production costs. Businesses have the disadvantage of higher transport and other energy costs. These disadvantages are reflected in lower land values. But they are not reflected in taxation. The same amount of tax has to be paid per unit of added value regardless of whether the producer is in Westminster or Wick. We are talking here about marginality. Taxation at the margin means that economic activity that would otherwise have taken place is tipped into unprofitability.

At the root of the discontent about the United Kingdom is, we believe, this apparent neglect of marginal locations, which then finds its focus in attempts to revive ancient national and regional loyalties. If the underlying economic forces were better understood, the energy that is going into this cause would be directed, more profitably, into the tax reform that the Campaign is working for, which creates tax havens precisely where they are most needed.

An article in the Daily Telegraph explains that High Speed Rail (HS2) will create winners as well as losers among homeowners and homebuyers because, even though only 1.2 miles of the line will be above ground in the Chilterns, it will affect local house prices for good or ill. David Newnes, director of LSL Property Services, owners of estate agents Your Move and Reeds Rains said: “For many  property owners in the Chilterns, one of the key selling factors – their surrounding natural beauty and peaceful countryside – will be removed forever. Many properties will be compulsorily purchased, but for those at the fringes of this zone, significant reductions in value of between 25pc and 30pc are likely.

“On the other hand, properties at the termini of the line will see their potential value soar.