Why Governments Encourage Home Ownership.

[Bruce Banner]

1, Houses and land are easy to tax.

2, Houses and land are impossible to hide.

3, Houses and land are easy to seize/confiscate.

4, Houses and land put people into debt so they have precious little in the way of cash/liquid assets, which are more difficult to keep track of and tax.

[chronyx]

Can't argue with that. Also they are both essential.

[@contradevian]

Except that they don't. Most tax's are on the productive and consumption.

Rich foreign investors just buy and sell properties through companies to avoid duties.

[interestrateripoff]

If people are paying a mortgage they are less likely to strike?

It was also encouraged to ensure people voted Tory, however this in itself becomes a policy quagmire when you have a housing bubble. Although the gerrymandering aspect is often neglected.

I'd also suggest it makes people feel rich as they get to live in a £100k, £200k, £300k house. Psychologically it's a very powerful effect although in the strict sense of wealth entirely meaningless as you can't access the cash unless you sell or Mew.

[Harry Monk]

Because for 25 years, the person does not own the house, the bank owns the person.

[gf3]

1, Houses and land are easy to tax.

2, Houses and land are impossible to hide.

3, Houses and land are easy to seize/confiscate.

4, Houses and land put people into debt so they have precious little in the way of cash/liquid assets, which are more difficult to keep track of and tax.

Don't really agree

The main reason government encourage home ownership is because it's like having having hold of someone's balls. If you've got your hand round someone's ball you can control everything they do.

[winkie]

Because for 25 years, the person does not own the house, the bank owns the person.

...also the employer owns the person, and the state owns the tax they pay from working.

No the real reason is because as there are few pensions that will pay a living pension.....you will therefore require what you made from your house after a lifetime of work in a job you can't afford to leave, to pay your children's home deposit as well as your pension and long-term health care.......you arrive with nothing you leave with nothing.....

[Bruce Banner]

Don't really agree

The main reason government encourage home ownership is because it's like having having hold of someone's balls. If you've got your hand round someone's ball you can control everything they do.

Surely that's another way of saying what I said.

[Bruce Banner]

...also the employer owns the person, and the state owns the tax they pay from working.

No the real reason is because as there are few pensions that will pay a living pension.....you will therefore require what you made from your house after a lifetime of work in a job you can't afford to leave, to pay your children's home deposit as well as your pension and long-term health care.......you arrive with nothing you leave with nothing.....

Same as seizure/confiscation.

[winkie]

Same as seizure/confiscation.

...if you don't use, it you lose it.

[Parkwell]

Sorry but I don't buy into the idea of such a conspiracy. As already pointed out the majority of taxes here are based on personal income and consumption. There is constant sabre rattling about tax evasion yet they don't target taxes on illiquid assets like land. I can only imagine it has been this way for so long because rich landowners have for centuries had the ear of govt, or actually been the govt, and now it is engrained in our culture that income tax is in some way fair.

The earliest big encouragement I've seen in my lifetime is the right to buy from Thatcher which in retrospect feels like a money raising bribe based on an already existing emotion of 'an englishmans home is his castle.' I would be interested in what encouragement previous governments may have given.

I believe there are many in govt that continue to take political advantage of the quite sensible desire to own a home and that is what the encouragement is mostly about. Many of them sharing this desire but unwittingly supporting a system of pointlessly high mortgages that ultimately makes most peoples lives worse. They either can't or won't see past the problems as long as people believe the value of their home makes them wealthier or owning at any cost makes them more secure. The voters blind desire to buy is our own undoing matched by the political desire to win votes.

I'm more willing to believe it is based more on incompetence than a plot by the few that benefit or else it would be easier to beat them. The whole thing is quite tragic really.

[winkie]

It wasn't that long ago when by having more healthy children meant you were wealthier and secure right into your old age.

[ThePiltdownMan]

If house prices were at a reasonable level, a lot of families would be able to revert to traditional roles, or enable people to retire a lot earlier. High house prices force us into working more and paying more tax, we have fewer options and less freedom in our lives. The only ones who benefit are the statists and parasite classes.

[XswampyX]

What about getting a massive loan creates loads of money, that they can then steal?

[Debbiebegood]

If people are paying a mortgage they are less likely to strike?

It was also encouraged to ensure people voted Tory, however this in itself becomes a policy quagmire when you have a housing bubble. Although the gerrymandering aspect is often neglected.

I'd also suggest it makes people feel rich as they get to live in a £100k, £200k, £300k house. Psychologically it's a very powerful effect although in the strict sense of wealth entirely meaningless as you can't access the cash unless you sell or Mew.

You hit the nail on the head.

[Executive Sadman]

I think it boils down to a whole stockholm sydrome type thing. If you have all your assets fixed in one place, you are less likely to say 'fuck this shit, fuck this government, fuck this country' and abscond. The entire produce of your lifes work is invested in an immobile pile of bricks, and you'll put up with a lot of shit from your country and government until you abandon it.

They know this and align their various ways of screwing you accordingly.

[alexw]

1, Houses and land are easy to tax.

2, Houses and land are impossible to hide.

3, Houses and land are easy to seize/confiscate.

4, Houses and land put people into debt so they have precious little in the way of cash/liquid assets, which are more difficult to keep track of and tax.

Sorry, but it's kind of obvious that these are not the reasons.

1) They are but we don't tax land at all and we don't tax housing that heavily. By far the majority of taxation is on consumption and work.

2) Doesn't matter if we don't tax them and we generally don't. See 1)

3) When's the last time time gov did a major confiscation or seizure of housing or land? Ummmmm........

4) Except if you put people into debt then you reduce what income they have that you can tax, and as already stated we don't tax housing or land at all heavily anyway. So again it can't be this.

So all in all it should be pretty obvious that the reason gov's encourage housing ownership has exceedingly little to do with taxation.

The reasons in other nations may be different but for the UK -

1) Conservative gov's have encouraged it because they believe it turns left-leaning social housing voters into home owning conservative ones.

2) All gov's have encouraged it because it results in a feel good effect that results in voters being significantly more likely to vote for the current party in power. It's electioneering at it's worst. Labour rode this boom-wave for two elections, and now the conservatives are trying recreate the process for 2015.

3) All gov's have encouraged it because it increases the level of social control that the polical class can exert over the masses. Workers who have mortgage payments to meet are much less likely to strike which is why the conservatives like it, and labour likes it because it makes them much more dependent on the gov if they actually do lose their jobs.

Edited October 6, 2013 by alexw

[DarkHorseWaits-NoMore]

Why Governments Encourage Home Ownership.

- The ponzi needs fresh meat.

- Keeps the banker's percentage skim rolling (who bankroll the captured democracies).

- Increases velocity of money around the economy, makes the growth figures look good.

- Increases debt with the illusion of wealth.

- Enslaves, controls and distracts the working class (helped by the media and deliberate educational gaps).

[Wayo]

1) Conservative gov's have encouraged it because they believe it turns left-leaning social housing voters into home owning conservative ones.

From Radio 4 interview at the Conservative conference - home owners are more likely to vote Conservative - so create more home owners. Just like Gordon greatly expanding the numbers in receipt of means tested in-work benefits, sorry 'tax credits'.

[Bruce Banner]

Sorry, but it's kind of obvious that these are not the reasons.

1) They are but we don't tax land at all and we don't tax housing that heavily. By far the majority of taxation is on consumption and work.

2) Doesn't matter if we don't tax them and we generally don't. See 1)

3) When's the last time time gov did a major confiscation or seizure of housing or land? Ummmmm........

4) Except if you put people into debt then you reduce what income they have that you can tax, and as already stated we don't tax housing or land at all heavily anyway. So again it can't be this.

So all in all it should be pretty obvious that the reason gov's encourage housing ownership has exceedingly little to do with taxation.

The reasons in other nations may be different but for the UK -

1) Conservative gov's have encouraged it because they believe it turns left-leaning social housing voters into home owning conservative ones.

2) All gov's have encouraged it because it results in a feel good effect that results in voters being significantly more likely to vote for the current party in power. It's electioneering at it's worst. Labour rode this boom-wave for two elections, and now the conservatives are trying recreate the process for 2015.

3) All gov's have encouraged it because it increases the level of social control that the polical class can exert over the masses. Workers who have mortgage payments to meet are much less likely to strike which is why the conservatives like it, and labour likes it because it makes them much more dependent on the gov if they actually do lose their jobs.

I didn't say heavily taxed, but that can change and property owners are a captive audience. Also, don't forget the 20% VAT on everything that home owners spend on their houses.

What's all this "we"? Most of us don't work for a political organisation so we have little say in it.

Land is compulsorily purchased all the time, whenever "they" want to use the land for something else.

[jago]

I think it's important to note that the system isn't a concious conspiracy in one go. It is important to avoid this kind of paranoia. It can lead to illusions that aren't there.

The closest we had to conspiracy was the tragedy of the commons. Mostly it's been a slow ratchet effect eroding the individual ever since.

"An Englishmen's home is his castle"

There are times when things appear like they are manipulated by a single entity. In times past that was called the devil? Are we that paranoid? Better to dodge the debate and start to act united accordingly.

The home is the cornerstone of Englishness. It's not simply an invention of control. It's in all of us.

I know this because I've resisted buying a home. For a while I lived in a campervan. I was careful where I parked. I never made a mess. I was low key. I never got in any one's way or caused any trouble. Yet...

people just honked in the middle of the night. Bashed on the side of my van. Let fireworks off underneath. Smashed my wing mirrors off.

I saved a lot of money and in moments I felt truely free. The difference in how the homeless are treated in the UK compared to abroad was astounding.

In the end I gave up. I've sold the van and left the UK only returning when I have to.

The thing is that it taught me that the force enslaving us is within ourselves. If I look into myself with true honesty I hate gypsies too. I would probably honk my horn too.

As written in The White Tiger, it's the other Chickens in the Coop that you need to worry about, not the cage. Those are the ones you need to fool.

I've found my way round some of it for the moment. But I can't share my secret I'm afraid.

All I can say is,

keep trying and remember what I said.

It seems like a home is essential, an essential lock-in to the system, but there are ways around it.

[opt_out]

5. Giving people a tiny slice of land co-opts them into protecting the land 'rights' of the obscenely wealthy thieves who stole it in the first place such that the key mechanism of making the rich richer of inflating the money supply via the levarging of land proceeds with majority support.

Agree. I wouldn't number it 5 though as most/all of Bruce's point are wrong.

Protecting their land rights, includes protecting themselves from being taxed on it.

[Bruce Banner]

How about this then...... http://www.housepricecrash.co.uk/forum/index.php?showtopic=193985

[SarahBell]

1, Houses and land are easy to tax.

2, Houses and land are impossible to hide.

3, Houses and land are easy to seize/confiscate.

4, Houses and land put people into debt so they have precious little in the way of cash/liquid assets, which are more difficult to keep track of and tax.

5. Houses need mortgages which keep people afraid of not having a job.

[zugzwang]

An Englishman's home is his dungeon.