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  • But that's just assuming you should just be able to buy another more expensive property based solely on the fact your property has increased in value, rather than the fact you've earned more money elsewhere or are able to get a bigger mortgage

    This is exactly what we need to get away from. It's not sustainable to have a property industry based around expecting price rises to be able to afford the home you need for your family. It's bullshit and pretty much something people feel entitled to now days.

  • This doesn’t make sense though. If property prices all go up, it doesn’t make it easier to buy a new property because the next step up is more expensive as well. It only benefits (1) mortgage availability, as you have more equity - that’s helpful but doesn’t help with prices going up; or (2) people who are trading down so the gains cover the new place.

    I agree we need to attenuate price rises and have argued for CGT on houses myself, so not saying its an awful idea - but i think there are real issues which would need to be fixed, and it is hard to see if it really ends up in that different a place to where we are now given SDLT does a similar role economically.

  • This doesn’t make sense though. If property prices all go up, it doesn’t make it easier to buy a new property because the next step up is more expensive as well. It only benefits (1) mortgage availability, as you have more equity - that’s helpful but doesn’t help with prices going up; or (2) people who are trading down so the gains cover the new place.

    I suppose what I'm getting at is that we should stop treating property as investments whatever the reason for doign so..whether that be needing the property market to go up 30% so that you can afford to sell your flat and buy a house to have a family in or because you're a property speculator. It is not sustainable.

    I would like to see people investigating:

    • Banning ownership of UK property by overseas companies. Requiring a UK company to be set up for purposes of international ownership and payment of taxes.
    • Strict rent controls.
    • Secure long fixed term tenancy agreements.
    • No S20 evictions.
    • Court regulated process for increasing rents (as seen in other EU nations)
    • Banning mortgages for second homes and new BTL mortgages.
    • Charging CGT on primary residences.

    Honestly I don't care that it doesn't get easier to buy property if prices have gone up. Houses should be homes, not investments. We need a housing market that people gives people the home they need for their family and security once they are in it.

    Full disclosure: I used to be a landlord. I hated it.

  • If property prices all go up, it doesn’t make it easier to buy a new property because the next step up is more expensive as well

    It does if your affordability constraint was LTV not mortgage x income multiple. At 95% LTV, a 10% rise in property prices increases your deposit 3x. This is how the "property ladder" really got going in the 80s. It also requires real wage growth and an increase in mortgage lending multiples versus incomes... not something we are experiencing today.

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