john banks

Do you care?

I like the idea of marginal rates rather than slab rates, but even if not affected by the highest marginal rates of a tax I think it is a tax on aspiration.

I think it is onerous and will reduce mobility, reduce investment in Scotland and result in lower tax receipts. It is a spectacular own goal by the SNP, and will make us like France.

As it stands, I don't think I have any capital growth in my house since I bought it in July 2011 except for what I have spent improving it. Now the new buyer, if I sold it, would be taxed 10% of that improvement, when I already paid 20% VAT, 40% income tax and national insurance on the funds that improved it.

tony de wonderful

Property and land (as rent yielding assets) create no wealth they are just an overhead on life itself.

If you want to better the economy then divert investment into productive assets not rent seeking ones.

hodgy0_2

Germany do the former, Greece do the latter lol

john banks

I've put quite a bit into the economy by buying materials and employing trades. I get the enjoyment of the property and have reversed its decay. The only rent I collect on it is less than the mortgage interest on some adjacent farmland.

tony de wonderful

John we both know that DIY isn't the principle cause of 'capital growth' - which is properly called inflation in this case - if anything this is good because it de-incentivises speculation on property. Let's face it, the state has backed housing to the hilt and this only offsets that every so slightly anyway.

john banks

I think the picture is somewhat different in Scotland, ignoring property ramping headlines, the "medicine" hasn't had the same effect of "recovering" prices up here. If you can cope with the accent, the cold, the socialism, and can find a job that suits it could be attractive To be fair, I prefer the weather here to most places on the West coast of England, Cornwall/Devon apart.

tony de wonderful

I might have prefered some sort of tax on BTL instead of what is in effect a capital gains tax paid by the buyer. Certainly this is part of an ill thought out and now incoherent long term housing policy/strategy from the state, since it only seeks to correct problems of the state's own making in the first place (in terms of supply of housing and supply of credit); which have promoted malinvestment and speculation.

I'm more or less stuck in expensive Cheshire/South Manchester since I work overseas and there is no reason to reside anywhere else.

john banks

You could live anywhere then? Why feel trapped in an expensive area? There are nice areas that are cheap partly because there isn't a lot of easily commutable employment.

tony de wonderful

Well it's home to me but I know what you mean. I could live anywhere in theory. For me though I'm targeting a 10 mile radius of where I'm from originally. I have friends here and wouldn't want to live somewhere where I know nobody. Also there's a lot of places in that radius which are a no-no due to location so in reality there are about three places.

Skoobie Dhu

iTrader: (3)

John - arguably off topic, but how did you get on with the plan for your courtyard? I've a similar space and wonder about roofing in some of it to add a couple of rooms.

Did you take the idea any further?

john banks

I don't think I am going to roof the whole courtyard but retain it and put in a link corridor to join it all up. The courtyard roof would have involved quite complex drainage arrangements with at least two and possibly three valley gutters, and I already have two, one of which has been puzzling the roofer for a few years so I've resorted to going up myself and might finally be getting there, look like a right idiot climbing up in the rain to see what is really going on. With a lean to link corridor it just needs a single wall with windows and some 6x2 to make the roof, with some roof windows to brighten it up. New taxes like this do influence a bit how much I might do. If they come along with a council tax revaluation and more bands it could sting. At the moment they only revalue when the house changes hands too. That might change?

SJ_Skyline

If the SNP want to establish some sort of socialist utopia then the people of Scotland will have to foot the bill.

GlesgaKiss

As usual they think someone else is going to foot the bill.