I don’t either. Taxing land at the rate of rent, or more commonly proposed at 85% the rate of rent, should reduce speculation because you can’t just sit on land to make money. You need to actually use it.
I don’t either. Taxing land at the rate of rent, or more commonly proposed at 85% the rate of rent, should reduce speculation because you can’t just sit on land to make money. You need to actually use it.
Why do you want to reduce speculation? The obvious reason to hold land out of use is that you think it will be more valuable in a different use in the future — no point in building a house and renting it out if the house will have to be torn down when the land becomes part of a shopping mall. If all you are doing is buying land because you think the price will go up you might as well rent if for some use in the meantime.
Renting things isn't as easy as just waving you hands. A quick drive around most cities would show numerous plots of land that have sat completely unused for years. The incentive structure seems to encourage this behavior since improving the land increases your taxes while inviting a host of regulation and interference from government and that's on top of completely out of control problems with evictions and squatting.
I don’t either. Taxing land at the rate of rent, or more commonly proposed at 85% the rate of rent, should reduce speculation because you can’t just sit on land to make money. You need to actually use it.
Why do you want to reduce speculation? The obvious reason to hold land out of use is that you think it will be more valuable in a different use in the future — no point in building a house and renting it out if the house will have to be torn down when the land becomes part of a shopping mall. If all you are doing is buying land because you think the price will go up you might as well rent if for some use in the meantime.
As, I just noticed, 10248 already pointed out.
Renting things isn't as easy as just waving you hands. A quick drive around most cities would show numerous plots of land that have sat completely unused for years. The incentive structure seems to encourage this behavior since improving the land increases your taxes while inviting a host of regulation and interference from government and that's on top of completely out of control problems with evictions and squatting.