NO Taxation WITHOUT Representation!

NO Taxation WITHOUT Representation!

9:24 AM, 28th December 2017, About 6 years ago 8

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Recent introductions and extensions of charges on landlords by local authorities suggest to me that landlords (and indeed any business in an area) should have a right to vote in local authority elections in areas where they own property.

Time to start a campaign?

Determined to not fund local authorities adequately, central government has given more freedom to local authorities to raise income. E.g.s include:

  • Imposition of landlord licensing fees
  • Differences in council tax free periods for empty properties.
  • The previously standard statutory 6 months has been removed; e.g. now two adjoining authorities of different political colours allow only 28 days and 2 months.
  • Councils are being allowed to use landlords as a fundraiser.

Extending the local authority franchise to give landlords and business owners the right to vote is not only logical, but also equitable and fair.

Mark


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Comments

xBrito

10:35 AM, 28th December 2017, About 6 years ago

Excellent - couldn't agree more - where do I sign up,

terry sullivan

10:58 AM, 28th December 2017, About 6 years ago

i would agree with that concept--local councils will not--i would also make voting compulsory and ban ALL postal voting

ps you can vote "bollox to the above candidates" and i would make bollox the candidate if enough votes received

user_ 12980

13:51 PM, 28th December 2017, About 6 years ago

Obfuscated Data

xBrito

16:38 PM, 28th December 2017, About 6 years ago

Reply to the comment left by Leslie Clive Bedford at 28/12/2017 - 13:51
Hi Leslie
I am also a private landlord with a single property rented out to a single family, but it is not in the borough of my residential property. Recently the local council of my rental property decided to introduce a private landlord registration scheme, which is not only compulsory for all private landlords who have property within their borough, but also has a registration fee of £500. What do landlords get for their £500 - an electronic certificate to say they are a member which they can print off and put on their wall - Hooray.
I have no objection to them introducing the scheme, but I would like to get some benefit!!. As I understand the article, if we are having to pay what is in effect, council tax, then we should get the same as other council tax payees. A vote in council elections so we can hold those collection our costs to account.

13:40 PM, 2nd January 2018, About 6 years ago

Completely agree - have made representations myself all to no avail - no votes in it. Such is our "Democracy"!!

Anne Noon

19:16 PM, 8th January 2018, About 6 years ago

Reply to the comment left by Rob Draper at 02/01/2018 - 13:40I have properties in different authorities. As far as I understand it, if you pay council tax (for my hmo's) then you can vote in local authority elections. Or it may be that if you are on the electoral roll at an address you can vote in local authority elections. But you can only vote in one location in the general elections.

20:08 PM, 8th January 2018, About 6 years ago

Reply to the comment left by Anne Noon at 08/01/2018 - 19:16
I don't think so - It' where you are registered on the electoral roll that counts. You cannot vote in the areas of other owned property.
Council tax is payable by an owner in the end if the property is unoccupied, capable of occupation with (if necessary) repairs effected to make it so and is not exempt. You get no representational capability in that case - but your vacated tenant could well do.
More relevant is that my Company needs premises to operate,
pays corporation tax, business rates on these and vacant units as described above, pays Corporation tax, contributes to employees NI and Pension funding - and has no power in the selection of the statutory power brokers of our democracy nor any statutory rights of consultation.
What MP cares much for a voteless corpse?
re

ReluctantNorthernLandlord

17:54 PM, 17th February 2018, About 6 years ago

Reply to the comment left by Rob Draper at 08/01/2018 - 20:08Our local voting system is archaic. So many central government initiatives stem from the national government being of a different political colour to the local one. But MPs are self-interested, often lazy and certainly not altruistic enough to put the work in to take even the first steps to extending democracy in this way. The first step for landlords is to lobby their MPs, asking them to put forward proposals to the Minister for Housing and Local Government. Obviously, the most vulnerable MPs electorally may be willing to take this on to get the 'Landlord vote'.

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