An Australian think-tank has proposed a radical solution to the supposed "housing crisis" - tax people for unused bedrooms.

The thinking is simple: There are many people, mostly older couples whose children have left home, living in family-sized homes with one or more bedrooms sitting empty. If the state were to impose a tax on unoccupied bedrooms, whilst abolishing stamp duty, they will incentivise those people to sell their family homes and downsize, thus freeing up homes for young families looking to buy.

The creepy agenda behind Australia's proposed "bedroom tax"

Kit Knightly
Off-Guardian

But is that really how it would work?

Of course not.

What will happen is that newly incentivized sellers will bump up against hedge funds and private equity firms who are willing to pay 10-20% over market price. I covered this back in my 2021 article What's REALLY behind the war on home ownership?

It has been progressing steadily since then. By December 2022 private equity firms were accounting for almost 30% of home purchases in the united states. BlackRock et al. are projected to own around 40% of American homes by 2030.

It's no different in other countries around the world. Canada is following the US pattern, whilst private equity already own an estimated 37% of single family homes in Germany.

In the UK, 2024 saw private equity firms invest £1.5billion in single family homes, with Blackstone buying over 4000 of them alone. According to the New York Times, US investment firms are already Madrid's biggest landlord.

Australia notionally moved to prevent this, imposing a two-year ban on foreign investors purchasing property earlier this year, but that doesn't apply to Australian private equity firms.

All the while, the press are publishing articles like this one...

Or this one...

The agenda is pretty obvious. And if the bedroom tax becomes a reality, we'll all know why.

https://www.sott.net/article/501409-The-creepy-agenda-behind-Australias-proposed-bedroom-tax

========================

A new tax on spare bedrooms has been proposed as a bold solution to fix Australia's crippling housing shortage.

As the federal government struggles with its goal to build 1.2 million new dwellings within the next four years, property researchers have warned that the right homes may not be being built. 

New data has revealed more than 60 per cent of Aussie households consist of just one or two people, yet the majority of dwellings are being built for families, with three or more bedrooms.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15026823/spare-bedroom-tax-australian-housing-crisis.html

======================

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=inbsT4GMb2E

===================

YOURDEMOCRACY.NET RECORDS HISTORY AS IT SHOULD BE — NOT AS THE WESTERN MEDIA WRONGLY REPORTS IT.

         Gus Leonisky

         POLITICAL CARTOONIST SINCE 1951.