The government has absolutely no desire to do that. Their voter base is predominantly home owners who think of their house as an asset that should only go up in value.
I agree. Also, High streets don't have to 'die' due to excessive rent either, the government could hike taxes on vacant stores 1000% then make possession orders on unpaid premises after 18 months. Then the gov can nationalise shop rents according to reasonable incomes.
How does that tax not just passed onto the occupant? When I was renting I was basically paying all my landlords costs for the property + profit on top. If there’s not enough units available or if the landlord class acts as a cartel in pricing then every cost is going to the occupant
The tax incidence depends on the elasticities of demand and supply. Since the supply of land is, for practical purposes, perfectly inelastic, land value tax cannot be effectively passed onto the tenant.
I'd love for council tax to be scrapped, but I'd prefer it to be replaced by a risen in income tax, with money dished out by Central government to local councils.
The government has absolutely no desire to do that. Their voter base is predominantly home owners who think of their house as an asset that should only go up in value.