Guardian: UK's housing needs new foundations

Near the end of the article: "There are campaigners who argue that Britain should deal once and for all with its damaging boom-bust cycle in house prices by reaching for a radical policy known as annual land value tax (LVT), which would be levied on the value of land up to its maximum permitted development value. The tax would be levied on property owners at, say, 1%, of the land's value every year, with the proceeds used to replace council tax and reduce income tax, thus rewarding work rather than property speculation. LVT would also encourage, for example, an elderly person living in a large family house to move to a flat and free the house for a family in a country where space is limited. It would also discourage developers from sitting on empty sites and buildings."