Housing Taxation and the Economic Benefits of Homeownership

This paper re-considers the arguments for reforming housing taxation in the UK on the basis of a review of evidence on the macro- and micro-economic effects of homeownership. The paper then examines the political economy of feasible tax reform. This currently involves a context of extreme fiscal pressure and a political system wedded to the housing tax status quo. The paper concludes by suggesting elements of a strategy to progress a much-needed debate on taxation that is consistent with but goes beyond arguments recently made by Shelter and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation Housing Market Task Force.