Ask a silly question ...

Growler asked "... are there further outrageous policies that could be implemented [to reflate the house price bubble]?". I replied as follows:

"Yes of course. The Red and Blue Wings of the Home-owners' Party have between them cooked up various proposals, which are (he said, exaggerating ever so slightly, but nothing is impossible):

1. Exclude main residence from Inheritance Tax (discourages downsizing and holding cash or shares)
2. Freezing or even reducing Council Tax.
3. Subsidies for people on "fuel poverty"
4. Cut interest rates to nil.
5. Make it nigh impossible for borrowers to be repossessed via legal system.
6. Outright mortgage subsidies (on top of zero interest rates)
7. Increase Stamp Duty threshold to boost selling value of smaller homes.
8. Absolute stop to new developments (All Hail The Hallowed Greenbelt!) and restrict supply by keeping a third of finished units off the market (aka "affordable housing for key workers")
9. Unlimited mass immigration.
10. Freeze or reduce TV licence fee.
11. Housing associations and councils to buy up part-finished homes for above market value.
12. Soft loans to home-building companies to avoid "fire sales".
13. Paying out billions in rent subsidies to private tenants (Housing Benefit) to keep rents and hence house prices up.
14. Charge rental income to lower rates of tax (no National Insurance and 10% wear and tear allowance, for example)
15. Capital gains exemptions for second homes, even if an MP says it's his or her main home.
16. Increase income tax, national insurance and VAT to make housing, in relative terms, an even better investment.
17. Allow pension funds to invest in residential property (largely tax free).
18. Give even more tax breaks to Real Estate Investment Trusts to suck money into the commercial property market.
19. Allow EIS companies to invest in commercial and residential property (like it used to be when it was called BES)
20. Reintroduce MIRAS."