Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Even the Rich Are Being Priced Out of Central London

citylab.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

131–140 of 216 posts

Re: Even the Rich Are Being Priced Out of Central London

#131

Post by grey-area »

mtkd wrote: post #68

I walked from Kings Cross to Marylebone at dusk recently - half way, I took the road up from the main Euston Road - walking through mostly residential - barely an apartment window with a light on - it's just money parked in property - the parks don't have kids playing in them any more The recent Vancouver tax changes have worked, I suspect/hope we'll start seeing that repeated in every city thats had it's life sucked…

8 million people live in London, and the centre is full of people at most times of day, hundreds of thousands of people still live near the areas you're talking about, I went for a picnic in Regent's park last weekend and it was full of kids. Characterising it as an empty city full of vacant units or one in which professionals or parents can't afford to live and parks are empty of children is absurd.

Re: Even the Rich Are Being Priced Out of Central London

#132

Post by tetraodonpuffer »

mtkd wrote: post #68

I walked from Kings Cross to Marylebone at dusk recently - half way, I took the road up from the main Euston Road - walking through mostly residential - barely an apartment window with a light on - it's just money parked in property - the parks don't have kids playing in them any more The recent Vancouver tax changes have worked, I suspect/hope we'll start seeing that repeated in every city thats had it's life sucked…

with real estate going up the way it's been going up, do you think 15% really that big of a deterrent?

Re: Even the Rich Are Being Priced Out of Central London

#133

Post by outside1234 »

p1mrx wrote: post #30
chadgeidel wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not sure if you are being sarcastic. The buyers driving up prices don't live in London. From the article: "Today, 60 percent of properties for sale in this part of London go to international buyers."

Can't we solve this problem with virtualization? Build houses in the middle of nowhere, but assign a central London address.

And swap them into central london when the buyer shows up at the airport...

Re: Even the Rich Are Being Priced Out of Central London

#134

Post by Tiktaalik »

ethbro wrote: post #128
Tiktaalik wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Foreigners [not permanent residents] who buy residential property in the Vancouver area will have to pay an extra 15-per-cent tax as part of a B.C. government plan to slow the foreign speculation that many blame for making the region’s homes the most unaffordable in Canada." http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/british-columbia/bc-to-t... The tax is new and was enacted just before August so the impacts are still unce…

Is there a reason they didn't tax non-use? The "foreigner exclusion" sounds like fighting a symptom. Simply require proof of residency in the property (or an active lease agreement / market listing) to qualify for a tax break. Otherwise, if you're parking-and-holding-without-using, you get slapped with a higher tax rate.

Something like this was suggested by economists at the local university.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/british-columbia/bc-prof...

The Mayor of Vancouver is also interested in taxing non-occupancy and in the same special session of the legislative assembly that passed the 15% foreign buyer tax the Province granted the City of Vancouver (but not others) the powers to tax non-occupancy. It can be pretty involved to find out occupancy and the City has limited means so it'll be interesting to see if that goes anywhere.

Re: Even the Rich Are Being Priced Out of Central London

#135

Post by doozy »

msrpotus wrote: post #13

If they aren't living there, why don't they just rent a lot of the houses out? I guess they don't need the money but that has always struck me as weird.

It's because there's a clear mathematical relationship between the price someone is willing to rent, the prevailing interest rate and the price a property is worth.

As an owner, you don't want that information to get out.

Re: Even the Rich Are Being Priced Out of Central London

#136

Post by randyrand »

mtkd wrote: post #68

I walked from Kings Cross to Marylebone at dusk recently - half way, I took the road up from the main Euston Road - walking through mostly residential - barely an apartment window with a light on - it's just money parked in property - the parks don't have kids playing in them any more The recent Vancouver tax changes have worked, I suspect/hope we'll start seeing that repeated in every city thats had it's life sucked…

Foreign investment money is a good thing for a city and country.

Empty buildings are not ideal though (though its still better than less investment). I think maybe there should be a requirement to rent out your investments if it's in a high density area.

Re: Even the Rich Are Being Priced Out of Central London

#137

Post by TheSpiceIsLife »

Can anyone explain the purported benefits to society of allowing non-resident foreigners to own residential property?

Who is this supposed to benefit? I mean, other than real estate agents, solicitors / conveyancer, and the initial citizen who sold the property.

What prevents us (whoever 'us' is in your case) from banning foreign non-resident residential property ownership.

Re: Even the Rich Are Being Priced Out of Central London

#138

Post by ferentchak »

randyrand wrote: post #136
mtkd wrote: post #68

I walked from Kings Cross to Marylebone at dusk recently - half way, I took the road up from the main Euston Road - walking through mostly residential - barely an apartment window with a light on - it's just money parked in property - the parks don't have kids playing in them any more The recent Vancouver tax changes have worked, I suspect/hope we'll start seeing that repeated in every city thats had it's life sucked…

Foreign investment money is a good thing for a city and country. Empty buildings are not ideal though (though its still better than less investment). I think maybe there should be a requirement to rent out your investments if it's in a high density area.

I guess I am confused why they would not want to collect the money from renting the buildings out. Any ideas?

Re: Even the Rich Are Being Priced Out of Central London

#139

Post by TheSpiceIsLife »

r00fus wrote: post #23
antisthenes wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unless every desirable city introduces this tax uniformly, doesn't this just shift the burden from Vancouver onto other cities?

This is why it should go viral. Wealthy individuals/ buying houses in droves to sit empty does not benefit anyone in the long run. What happens when the bubble pops?

While I understand and agree with the sentiment of your comment...

The idea of a tax virus sounds terrifying!

Re: Even the Rich Are Being Priced Out of Central London

#140

Post by acomjean »

ethbro wrote: post #128
Tiktaalik wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Foreigners [not permanent residents] who buy residential property in the Vancouver area will have to pay an extra 15-per-cent tax as part of a B.C. government plan to slow the foreign speculation that many blame for making the region’s homes the most unaffordable in Canada." http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/british-columbia/bc-to-t... The tax is new and was enacted just before August so the impacts are still unce…

Is there a reason they didn't tax non-use? The "foreigner exclusion" sounds like fighting a symptom. Simply require proof of residency in the property (or an active lease agreement / market listing) to qualify for a tax break. Otherwise, if you're parking-and-holding-without-using, you get slapped with a higher tax rate.

Cambridge MA, has a resident tax abatement program. It hasn't seemed to help much as we are starting to see foreign all cash sales...
Post reply on HN