HOW MUCH WILL I PAY? THE COST OF THE MINI-LVT TO HOME-OWNERS

So the bargain is this: Next time you buy a house, you won’t pay Stamp Duty. Instead there will be a much smaller annual charge based on the value of the plot. 

A rate of one-third of one percent (0.3%) of the Land Value would do the trick. This would keep the same amount of tax revenue for the Chancellor, eventually, after a few years.  

Well, not quite, but this is a dynamic tax geared to rising land prices. And don’t forget the good part of this switch—getting rid of Stamp Duty on house purchases, probably the worst tax there is, certainly one of the most hated.

But what about its replacement? Here’s what mini-LVT looks like for average-priced houses in different parts of England:

Area	Average £price of house	Implied LV	Proposed annual LVT at 0.3%	Old £SDLT (1-off)
Cluster*	150,000	30,000	£90	500
East Anglia	220,000	100,000	£300	1,900
South West	230,000	110,000	£330	2,300
South East	350,000	230,000	£690	7,500
London	500,000	380,000	£1,140	15,000

*‘cluster’ means everywhere outside London and the Home Counties

 “land value tax faces large political obstacles”

So says a new publication from Civitas, an independent UK think-tank. This statement of the bleedin’ obvious comes at the end of very good chapter extolling the virtues of LVT. So what’s their answer to overcoming political obstacles?

Hand over development rights to Local Authorities:—

“remove from landowners their ability to withhold land in pursuit of more favourable circumstances and a higher sale price at some point in the future. This could be achieved by enabling the public sector to purchase land that is designated for new housing at close to its existing use value” 

 Pure funk! If we can’t do the right thing then let’s try some cack-handed largely untried Scheme instead!