Tony Bryer wrote:
On Sun, 28 Sep 2014 10:59:38 -0500 Recliner wrote :
But the study found that homes clustered around some stations will see a
larger spike than others.
Tottenham Court Road has long been portrayed as the epicentre of the
Crossrail project with huge amounts of development in the area and it is
also one of the main central stations, said Russell Quirk, the founder of
Essex-based eMoov. Prices in the area are now over four times higher than
10 years ago, the report showed. In 2004 an average flat was worth
£240,000, but has risen by 439pc to more than £1m.
If the UK had a more sensible way of taxing property than Council Tax, then
the public purse would see some return from massive investments like
Crossrail. Instead AIUI CT is just levied on the 1991? value. There is of
course a lesser gain from Stamp Duty when such properties are sold.
Actually, Crossrail did benefit from additional property taxes:
"Most important, however, the project’s planners managed to attract a
substantial amount of private-sector money. Crossrail is being financed by
a combination of government grants, fares and an enhancement of land
values. A business-rate supplement of 2p on non-domestic properties with a
rateable value of £55,000 or more created £4 billion for the project,
nearly as much as the government is providing. Shining new offices will be
built above stations by developers; this is novel in Britain, but a common
way of funding infrastructure elsewhere.
Future projects could learn from Crossrail’s funding structure. “We need to
assume that public-sector funding is the last resort,” says Isabel Dedring,
deputy mayor for transport. Business levies could be used more widely while
existing taxes, such as the congestion charge, could be used more
effectively or extended. Others think more taxes should be kept in London:
the mayor gets a mere 7% of all taxes raised in the city. Better
assessments of the rise in land values near a new station would help, too."
From
http://www.economist.com/news/britai...-not-so-boring