This article was originally published on Forbes - Places and Spaces on 24 September, 2014, written by Carla Passino.
The British electoral campaign has started in earnest and real estate has quickly taken centre stage. Now that Scotland has voted to remain in the Union, British politicians have begun to focus on the General Election that will take place in May 2015, and Opposition leader Ed Miliband, of the Labour Party, kicked off the electoral debate on 23 September with a speech that put housing high on the agenda. London and the South of England have long been suffering from a chronic shortage of homes and affordability has worsened in recent times. The last twenty years have seen a meteoric rise in the value of existing housing stock, particularly in London, where the average property is now worth £457,072 (about $749,527). Miliband’s recipe to solve the problem is two-pronged: build more affordable houses and raise the capital to do so by introducing a mansion tax on properties worth more than £2 million (about $3,279,690). | British Opposition leader Ed Miliband put real estate at the centre of the electoral debate |
I'm what you call the "property ladder bannister". Hold onto me and I will help you through your way up the property ladder. Need help conveyancing, let's find you the best solicitor to act on your behalf and bring your transaction to success. | "I find it a little dodgy. Even the commercial property listing companies are reacting to it saying that it would unfairly “punish” homeowners who are already paying a hefty sum in taxes for their properties. There are roughly a hundred thousand homes in London and in the South East that would be affected by the introduction of a mansion tax – which they will find a bit misleading as owners of 3-bedoom properties maybe caught by it. |