25 signatures reached
To: Brandon Lewis
Place restrictions on foreign property investment in the UK
I'm calling for a ban on foreign property investment in the UK, where the owner does not live in the property.
Why is this important?
It's time to claim back housing from the monied interests of people who have no stake in the UK and return it to homes for people to live in.
Housing is a corner stone of a functioning society and in a time where the situation is in a chronic state we need to take drastic action.
Politicians for reasons unexplained, champion the purchase of property by foreigners as "investment in the UK" but never explain the supposed benefits of property sitting empty, doing nothing.
For sake of argument I am talking about foreign investors who buy UK property and do not live in it.
There is simply no benefit to the UK in letting this continue, the house builder makes some money on the build, there is stamp duty in the sale and then what? If a property is sat empty it doesn't contribute any benefit to the UK, there is no-one in it creating any ongoing economic activity.
Banning foreign investor ownership may sound drastic, but it's nothing new, Australia, Denmark and Switzerland all place restrictions on foreign ownership for all the same reasons that we've experienced in the UK.[1]
Additionally, in the wake of the Panama scandal we see that a lot of people use property as a way of storing dodgy money, be that untaxed or money that has been extracted out of their country illegally or through crime.[2]
You may see Chinese owners of UK propery, but did you know that Chinese citizens are only allowed to remove $35K a year out of their country by law?[3]
It has been widely thought that London property is a safe haven and major holder of a lot of corrupt money.[4]
There has been a big trend for many new build properties in London, and increasingly other big cities, to be advertised and sold to foreign buyers before anyone in the UK gets the chance to purchase them.[5]
It's time housing was reclaimed as somewhere for people to live, not somewhere for people to store criminal proceeds, tax evaded earnings or at the very least worse case, an investment that sits empty.
If this petition gains enough traction I will formally start a petition through the parliament.uk web site to attempt to secure a debate in parliament.
Politicians have had 10-15 years to enact change on the housing crisis but have failed time and time again with ineffective policies.
The UK government needs to put people living in the UK ahead of foreign investors - it's time to call for change.
[1] http://www.theguardian.com/money/blog/2015/nov/21/foreign-buyers-british-property
[2] http://www.private-eye.co.uk/registry
[3] https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/no-stairs-and-square-rooms-only--the-madness-of-the-foreign-buyers-spending-billions-on-london-homes-165014502.html
[4] http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/london-property-boom-built-on-dirty-money-10083527.html
[5] http://www.theguardian.com/money/2014/oct/04/-sp-british-homes-marketed-hong-kong-first-time-buyers-galliard
Housing is a corner stone of a functioning society and in a time where the situation is in a chronic state we need to take drastic action.
Politicians for reasons unexplained, champion the purchase of property by foreigners as "investment in the UK" but never explain the supposed benefits of property sitting empty, doing nothing.
For sake of argument I am talking about foreign investors who buy UK property and do not live in it.
There is simply no benefit to the UK in letting this continue, the house builder makes some money on the build, there is stamp duty in the sale and then what? If a property is sat empty it doesn't contribute any benefit to the UK, there is no-one in it creating any ongoing economic activity.
Banning foreign investor ownership may sound drastic, but it's nothing new, Australia, Denmark and Switzerland all place restrictions on foreign ownership for all the same reasons that we've experienced in the UK.[1]
Additionally, in the wake of the Panama scandal we see that a lot of people use property as a way of storing dodgy money, be that untaxed or money that has been extracted out of their country illegally or through crime.[2]
You may see Chinese owners of UK propery, but did you know that Chinese citizens are only allowed to remove $35K a year out of their country by law?[3]
It has been widely thought that London property is a safe haven and major holder of a lot of corrupt money.[4]
There has been a big trend for many new build properties in London, and increasingly other big cities, to be advertised and sold to foreign buyers before anyone in the UK gets the chance to purchase them.[5]
It's time housing was reclaimed as somewhere for people to live, not somewhere for people to store criminal proceeds, tax evaded earnings or at the very least worse case, an investment that sits empty.
If this petition gains enough traction I will formally start a petition through the parliament.uk web site to attempt to secure a debate in parliament.
Politicians have had 10-15 years to enact change on the housing crisis but have failed time and time again with ineffective policies.
The UK government needs to put people living in the UK ahead of foreign investors - it's time to call for change.
[1] http://www.theguardian.com/money/blog/2015/nov/21/foreign-buyers-british-property
[2] http://www.private-eye.co.uk/registry
[3] https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/no-stairs-and-square-rooms-only--the-madness-of-the-foreign-buyers-spending-billions-on-london-homes-165014502.html
[4] http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/london-property-boom-built-on-dirty-money-10083527.html
[5] http://www.theguardian.com/money/2014/oct/04/-sp-british-homes-marketed-hong-kong-first-time-buyers-galliard
