Corbyn sizes up family homes with gardens for Labour tax raid
JEREMY CORBYN has unveiled plans for a new tax raid on middle-class homeowners which would lead to those with family homes and gardens paying significantly more.
A report, commissioned by Labour, suggests that council tax should be scrapped and replaced with a “progressive property tax”. The tax would be payable by property owners, rather than tenants, and would be based on “regularly updated” property values. It says there would be a “progressively higher rate of taxation” for each of the top four property bands by value.
Labour is also considering plans for “compulsory sale orders” to give public authorities the right to seize land that has been left vacant or derelict and sell it at public auction.
The proposed tax raid is one of a raft of policies being considered by Labour after the publication of a report entitled “Land for the Many”. James Brokenshire, the Housing Secretary, said: “This tax bombshell for families would mean family homes with gardens paying far more and higher taxes on pensioners by abolishing the single-person discount.”
Jon Trickett, the shadow Cabinet Office minister, said people in the UK had “little or no say over the decisions that affect their communities and the places in which they live”. The report calls for “democratic participation in planning” by introducing a form of jury service for plan making and adopting the Scottish principle of a “Right to Roam” across all uncultivated land and water, excluding gardens and other exceptions.
Labour has welcomed the report’s recommendations and said it will consider them as part its policy development ahead of the next general election. Mr Trickett added: “So much of this can be traced back to the broken system of land ownership. Concentration of land in the hands of a few has led to unwanted developments, unaffordable house prices, financial crises and environmental degradation.
“Labour is committed to tackling these head-on and delivering a fundamental shift in wealth and power from the few to the many.”
The new property tax would also see a “significantly higher rate” for empty homes and second homes “to encourage a more efficient use of the housing stock”. There would be a “similar surcharge” for foreign-owned properties.
Labour has also proposed that all information about land ownership will be made available to the public to increase transparency. Other measures include an “offshore company property tax” that would be paid by foreign companies that own property and land in the UK.