Scotland must act to crack down on property-hoarding tax avoiders to tackle the housing crisis, says the Scottish Greens’ finance spokesperson Ross Greer MSP.
Mr Greer will shortly lodge proposals in Parliament to end the tax breaks currently enjoyed by two types of companies infamous for buying up and hoarding property – open-ended investment companies and residential property holding companies.
He will also propose an additional charge for overseas buyers to crack down on property speculators based in tax havens buying up homes across Scotland. The proposals will be lodged as amendments to the Housing (Scotland) Bill.
It was recently revealed that buy-to-let housing firms have become the biggest type of business in the UK, outnumbering fast food shops by four to one. A report by the Common Wealth think tank also found that the UK has become the world’s biggest destination for overseas property investors. At the same time, a housing emergency has been declared in Scotland, with thousands of children currently homeless and in temporary accommodation.
Mr Greer said: “Scotland is in the grips of a housing emergency, yet we still allow homes to be bought and hoarded by overseas speculators without them even paying the same tax that anyone else would. These companies are only interested in making a profit, even if it means the property sitting empty for months or even years at first.
“Ideally these nonsense companies should be banned from buying homes in Scotland at all, but at the very least they should face a hefty tax bill for the privilege. That should at least put some of them off. We can be a society where everyone has somewhere to call home, but that won’t happen for as long as we have a broken market, one tilted in favour of the speculators, the tax avoiders and the super-rich.”
He added: “Most people will never have access to the kind of tax wheezes and loopholes that these wealthy buyers have access to. My proposals would force them to either pay their fair share or make way and free up more homes for people and families who really need them.”