Re: Labour plans to cut inheritance tax threshold
Originally Posted by
Julie1962
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No I can't agree with that, house prices have risen not because of hard work but because of shear luck.
I'd go with that theory.
Most of us would probably agree their grandparents and their parents before them never even thought of owning their own home .. couldn't afford it, they all had to rent. They all had 6 to 10 kids, struggled, worked hard to clothe and feed them.
100 years on things have changed drastically.
There was the surge in residential house building in the 1930's after the old terraced slum clearance programs but the next major building bonanza was in the 60's, 70's and 80's .. large estates.
Cheaper, more affordable housing. My own parents were the first in their own families to have a mortgage. And that with 4 kids to bring up too. But they did it.
Then came the property boom .. and we all know what happened. Boom and bust.
Since then, young people have, in effect gone back to not ben able to afford to buy ... the same a 100 years ago though their lifestyle isn't comparable at all. They have everything .. cars, holidays, considerably enhanced spending power. .. and the bank of 'mum and dad'.
It'll be interesting to see how the generations after them fair after they've exhausted this financial buffer.
Presumably the cycle will begin again where parents have nothing to pass on to their kids.
Buying a house is an investment ... it makes profit and as a rule will amass more than other means of financial speculation.
Brick and mortar has certainly performed better than pension investments. . So as part of an inheritance it seems reasonable to expect to pay tax. Might not seem fair but it applies to all unearned income.