According to data from the Office for National Statistics 5.5% of homes in England and Wales are “not actually occupied”. It is equal to about 1.5 million homesA further 172,800 units are classified as second homes.
According to some experts, this census data suggests just that Real estate developers and many owners If you struggle with properties you don’t occupy, this puts the tax system in doubt, while your home will have relatively low taxes compared to the initial costs.
“Instead of a continuous tax on the value of houses that might prevent people from leaving vacant, we have a tax on transactions that decouple from activities (a so-called tax on timber),” he says. Andrew Wishart is a senior real estate economist at Capital Economics.
London has 8% of its total unoccupied homes, the highest ratio between England and Wales. Of those, 91.6% were unoccupied and only 8.4% were second homes.
The expert believes, “something can be done in terms of taxes that make this type of housing more expensive for two years. This will increase the increase in housing construction.”
The data from the Office for British Statistics (ONS) is based on information from the 2021 Census. Behavior can be affected during the Covid-19 pandemic, with some leaving cities like London to stay with family. Period. However, the ONS confirms it asked people where they “normally” lived.
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