If selected for debate at York in March, we might suggest a mention of LVT. The mover of this motion is a supporter but thinks that any detailed proposal in this motion on tax would be rejected by FPC because there's a separate working group on tax.
A report on the potential for land value taxes in Scotland is about to be published, ALTER has learned.
In January this year, the Scottish Land Commission (SLC) invited tenders for a study of the potential of land value taxation (LVT) to reduce inequality in land access, in particular to look at technical issues that would face any plan to implement LVT.
On 31st October at Church House, Westminster, London the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Land Value Capture published its report on Land Value Capture. The event was attended by several MPs and chaired by Rt Hon Sir Vince Cable, Leader of the Liberal Democrats, Chair of the APPG.
The APPG was formed less than a year ago and has spent this year taking evidence from a range of organisations and individuals in the UK and beyond. Its proceedings are published on the website of the Coalition for Economic Justice (CEJ) of which ALTER is a member. It was ALTER's Chair Joe Bourke who acted as the APPG Secretary since its formation and pulled together the report for MPs with assistance from other CEJ members.
A new IPPR report argues that the reform of the dysfunctional land market is essential if the UK is to be a more equal, more productive and stable economy. It is also vital to creating a better-functioning housing market that delivers the affordable and quality homes the country needs.
Land is an essential factor in all economic activity but, if it is not properly managed and regulated, it can play a destabilising role in the housing market and the wider economy. The UK's dysfunctional land market and soaring land values have helped drive growing wealth inequality, create the conditions for a broken housing market, and are a root cause of an unproductive and unstable economy. Reform of the land market must therefore be focused on reducing the financial speculation that occurs in land and sharing the benefits of increases in land values for the benefit of the public good.
In Lib Dem Voice on 3 June Helen Flynn urge the readers to come up with "big ideas" to solve our current housing market.
Helen Flynn rightly identifies the issue is not of 'supply and demand': … problems in the housing market … are not necessarily problems of the housing market. Helen Flynn then singles out "distribution" of housing as the main issue: "Some people are occupying a lot more housing than others … others are squeezed out of the market entirely".
