Time will improve the propects for LVT

The past few decades have been lean ones for LVT because the spread of owner-occupation and aspirations to owner-occupation has led to a political situation where all of the political parties have been scared to advocate LVT for fear of losing votes. But time will change this state of affairs, as was pointed out by a commentator called “imperium” on the Guardian’s “Comment is Free” site.

Imperium writes
“Labour and the Tories both have long been counting on the fact that the electoral class does not yet comprise a sizeable number of rental tenants, and all their policies and the weight of legislation have been pitched at home-owners and landlords. However, there is an entire generation about to come of age, soon to enter into into that period of their lives when they care passionately about civic and national issues, and actually participate in the electoral process – and a large proportion of this generation are locked out of the property market.”

“They will perforce be paying rent to others for the homes they live in, and they will be angry:- angry at the shortage of decent affordable rental property; angry at the shortage of social housing; angry at the outrageous lack of protection from landlords for tenants; angry at the insecurity of tenure which tenants today have to take for granted. They will express their anger when they vote in elections, and if the parties wont wake up to this imminent threat, they will suffer at the polls.”