If you pay 1% for one house, someone with 2 houses should pay 2%, and a company with 2000 homes should pay 2000%

That would make it increasingly difficult for mega companies to buy up everything and torture the housing market

  • TranquilTurbulence@lemmy.zipEnglish
    71·
    11 days ago

    They would use proxy owners to stay at 1%. Maybe every employee of the corporation could be “an owner” for taxation purposes.

    • ell1e@leminal.spaceEnglish
      3·
      11 days ago

      That could be easy to stop too. Just make sure that it’s not legal to be compelled to own a house for a corporation or any human you can’t demonstrate a close relationship with (relative, friend, partner), and any benefits you get (financial or other) for acting as a proxy owner can be demanded back and reappropriated by the gov later.

      Enforcement doesn’t need to be perfect, just enough that people aren’t interested in taking the risk at a notable scale.

    • gedaliyah@lemmy.worldOP
      2·
      11 days ago

      There are major tax breaks in at least the US for your first home. Yet companies don’t already do this because it would be fraud. Too risky. If the expense of getting caught is high enough, then companies don’t tend to break the law.

      Make it a felony. Send an executive or two to jail. See how that shifts the behavior.