Lib Dems resurrect mansion supertax

The politics of envy.

I should like to propose that the Liberal Democrats be taken to court under the Trades Description Act. They are neither Liberal nor Democratic. More like Stalinist and Trotskyist. So someone buys a house out of tax paid income. They look after and improve it – all the while sacrificing other things, such as going to the pub, smoking and bingo. After 20 years or so the reasonably priced house is suddenly worth over £1million thanks to stupid Government policy that has resulted in inflated prices. The occupants now wish to trade down in their old age and release some of the capital. But they will be clobbered for tax. One wonders how it will work if they took up the much vaunted but terrible deal of equity release? It probably hasn’t occurred to these clever MPs, who claim expenses on their mortgages, that there are great swathes in London where you would be hard pushed to find a house under £1 million. Perhaps the solution would be to just stay put and convert unwanted space into rental accommodation. Or just wait until the Lib Dems just disappear – which judging by recent events shouldn’t take much longer than the next election.

Posted by: Harry Katz