George wrote:
HeyBub wrote:
A semi-secret re-evaluation of property by the UK Labor government
is going on and will be made public after the next election. The
authorities are adding to a home-owner's evaluation such intangible
things as scenic view and proximity to a bus stop.

I'm not making this up.

On the scenic view business, there are eleven categories that range
from "general scenic view" and "partial sea view" to "partial view
of river." There's even a classification for "available street parking."

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...e-classes.html



Apparently you didn't notice that this is common practice in lots of
areas including mine. And just ask yourself why the same house sells
for more money if it is in a scenic location or has access to a
school yard or whatever compared to one that doesn't.

Your taxes are based on property value and that, in turn, is based on what
people will pay. Your tax is not assessed, directly, based on how many
swimming pools you have, whether your gazebo is double-glazed, or whether
your second-story balcony overlooks a nudist camp.

True, there's often a connection between property values and property
amenities, but not necessarily. Suppose you had a modest shack situated
between a hog-fat rendering plant on one side and a sewage treatment plant
on the other. Your property value is close to zero. In the UK, if you add a
swimming pool or the city puts a bus stop on the street, you get hit with a
tax.

But maybe, to be fair, the authorities subtract assessed taxes for a
non-scenic view. Or smell.

Just think of the regulations and bureaucrats necessary to implement this
plan. You've got to have inspectors without number, computer programs,
clerks, referees, administrative judges, printings, rolls, rules,
uncountably many notaries public, writs by the wheel-barrow loads, and so
on.