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Housing unaffordability
it is worth recalling that the following incentives to property speculation have been introduced by various governments since 1990. Abolish Land Tax, abolish Stamp Duty, allow investors to write off rental loses against other income and receive a tax refund through a qualifying company, decline to tax the capital gain that pops out when the property is sold, accelerate depreciation write offs (repealed a few years ago, after the horse had well and truly bolted). My point is, yes there is one, is that successive governments have left affordable housing development largely to the private market by providing these incentives, but it has not worked for a number of reasons and now we see the mess we are in. No policy suggestion here, but important to learn from previous mistakes when thinking about future policy.
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Jane Pinder commented 2016-12-03 07:35:52 +1300I totally agree that the tax policies and settings you identify are a major cause of our housing unaffordability. Almost nothing in this world stems from a singular cause but the current government continues to insist that ‘a lack of supply’ is the sole cause and solution for our now exorbitant house prices, in cities like Auckland and Queenstown in particular. Every one knows that property speculation by local and foreign investors is rampant. And is there really a housing shortage when so many houses are sitting unoccupied? Tens of thousands of homes were found to be unoccupied in the last census and I see many homes that are clearly unoccupied as I move around in Auckland.
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Jane Pinder tagged this with essential 2016-12-03 07:35:52 +1300
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