When UK income tax was first levied in 1798, it was a temporary measure used to fund defence. As the social contract between state and citizens evolved over the following 150 years, so too did taxation. Both today are permanent and accepted features of British life.
A key part of today’s social contract is social mobility: that your ability alone should allow you to reach the highest echelons of British society. As it stands, however, the UK’s current approach to housing taxation risks undermining social mobility and the social contract.
Across the UK, in recent decades housing costs have inflated much faster than earnings. The average house cost 4x median salary in the 1950s but 8x median salary in 2019.[1] This asset inflation has, overall, benefitted many who benefitted from historically low asset prices, significant wage growth and sustained economic prosperity.
The last time housing costed 8x median salary, it was the turn of the 20th century. The social contact was much less evolved. Social mobility was the exception, not the rule. Now, as citizens expect it, it is vital that taxation on housing delivers, rather than inhibits, social mobility.
As the Conservative Government and the OTS undertake the Capital Gains Tax review, serious consideration should be given to the introduction of CGT in the residential housing setting, in place of Stamp Duty Land Tax.
SDLT, as typically levied, is a tax on the young and aspirational. Having saved for years to pay a small deposit on a home, the young, aspirational buyer is charged a tax for the benefit of living in stable, long-term housing.
Those who sell their house, however, are free to crystallise a tax-exempt capital gain, when that gain has typically been driven less by nous or investment in the economy and more by the simple dynamics of scarcity.
Replacing SDLT with CGT on residential property would go far to addressing an inherent inequality in housing taxation. In one move, it would make the housing ladder more affordable for young and aspirational citizens.
At the same time, introducing CGT would recognise the significant wealth accrued by housing asset owners over the past 3 decades; wealth that was typically made possible by deficiencies in the UK housing market.
For future home ownership it would set a clear message – the government will not charge you for seeking stable, long-term housing. It will only charge you if your housing wealth increases.
CGT on housing need not be set at the same rate as non-housing CGT. The housing CGT rate could be set based on Exchequer requirements.
Upon introducing this tax, houses purchased in the last 10 years could remain exempt from CGT. Doing so would recognise those who recently paid SDLT and would avoid the government taxing citizens twice.
Now is a time to be bold. Historically, we have been nervous about taxing housing wealth, given where housing sits in the national psyche. But we must have the courage to tackle the intergenerational inequality of housing wealth before the young get left behind. Our social contract depends on it.
[1] https://www.schroders.com/en/uk/private-investor/insights/markets/what-174-years-of-data-tell-us-about-house-price-affordability-in-the-uk/
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