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Sell homes for £1? a crazy Scottish Labour political gimmick

According to a leading property firm, a promise to sell homes for £1 by Scottish Labour is just the latest in a long line of politically led housing gimmicks. DJ Alexander Ltd, which is the largest lettings and estate agency in Scotland and is part of the Lomond Group, said that the announcement by Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar at the party’s conference last weekend was just another headline-grabbing statement aimed at gaining short-term publicity without addressing the real underlying issues in the housing sector.

Mr Sarwar stated, “There is no single solution to the housing crisis. It means building more houses, with the right infrastructure in place – being innovative and ambitious in our plans.” However, he then stated that his party would offer to sell an estimated 27,000 long-term empty homes in Scotland for £1 each and provide Government-backed loans to renovate these properties.

Under this plan, councils would identify and compulsorily purchase properties designated as long-term vacant, currently defined as being empty for 18 months, with the average property costing £12,500.

Mr Sarwar stated: “We believe these (properties) need to be put back into use to create new homes and revitalise and re-energise communities. This radical policy would buy up these neglected houses and sell them to future homeowners for just £1. It would give them a government-backed loan to transform them into homes that will be lived in and loved.”

To force owners to sell, Labour would run a “council tax accelerator”, pushing up the bills for vacant properties. After 12 months vacant, each property’s council tax bill would be twice the normal rate, then triple in the following year, and so on, rising to a maximum of 500 per cent of the standard bill. The aim would be to encourage owners to sell or rent their homes to increase the housing supply.

David Alexander, the chief executive officer of DJ Alexander Scotland Ltd, said: “This is an example of another shiny housing bauble placed before the electorate and designed to produce headlines and attract voters without addressing any of the underlying issues in the housing market.”

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