Leverage tax rebates to stem London’s housing woes

To stem the London housing crisis, Robert Colvile, director of the Centre for Policy Studies think-tank, outlines a plan called Help to Own, whereby any landlord who sells to their tenant would get a capital gains tax rebate worth around a third of their tax bill - £10,000 for an average sale. The other two thirds of the tax rebate would go to the tenant, he suggests, as a contribution towards a 10% deposit to help them buy a home. Since 1997, Colville adds, the number of private rental households has more than doubled, from 2.1m to 4.7m, and he argues that his approach would be better than starting "a war on landlords."

Evening Standard (11/02/2019)