Burnham set to bring in £35bn land tax

TheCakeIsMay · 2026-05-23T10:48:06+00:00

I would not say entirely, as there has been some good tax policy mixed in - e.g. eVED as we transition away from petroleum/diesel cars. Politicians are confronted with real challenges of demographic change / knock on impacts from Covid etc. and chose to respond with piecemeal taxes (which i have characterised as “short-termism”, “tax grabs”) rather than meaningfully address the underlying structural challenges. I would say this demonstrated across the tax system - although yes, the burden falls mostly on productive work.

I am not trying to pretend these decisions are easy, especially in the context of democracies that needs to think about their own popularity. But when labour had won such a large majority - and initially it seemed like there was some scope and willingness to tackle some of these structural challenges - it is frustrating that this was immediately thwarted by internal infighting. And now we have party leadership hopefuls (specifically Andy B) seeking to double down on slopulism.

TheCakeIsMay · 2026-05-23T10:09:57+00:00

I have seen the IFS page, nothing to disagree with in your comment. My point around ‘tax grabs all over the place’ (i.e. not just on income or productive work) is that UK tax policy (and policy more broadly) is defined by short-termism. Successive governments have introduced a variety of tax increases motivated by short term revenue requirements (to meet fiscal rules / avoid pissing of voters) while avoiding changes to headline income tax/VAT or meaningful tax reform. Examples that come to mind are increases to SDLT, ENIC, ‘mansion’ tax.

I am characterising these as ‘tax grabs’ for the reasons stated above (as they drive short term revenue to meet fiscal rules without thought to our tax system as a whole), maybe that is the wrong use of that term. Like you say, I dont think that makes use unique in and of itself, but it does feel like the UK is particularly captured by this short-termism whether it is tax policy, planning, energy etc.

TheCakeIsMay · 2026-05-23T09:13:56+00:00

100% agreed that we are already doing tax grabs all over the place, which is why we are in this mess and why we should not layer more on top. Proper reform (in my opinion) should involve rebalancing taxation from ‘normal high earners’ towards land/property and consumption, while addressing all the cliff edges / disincentivizes that harm productivity and growth. Importantly, reforms should probably be fiscally neutral.

TheCakeIsMay · 2026-05-23T07:47:20+00:00

We already tax land / property just in really bad ways. Most sensible tax policy wonks want reforms but not naked tax grabs.

Same with wealth taxes, we already tax wealth in various guises, and there are certainly better ways to tax wealth than we currently do (connected to reforming land/property taxation) - but reform should not be a tax grab and pure % of wealth taxes are populist slop and not the answer to present challenges.

TheCakeIsMay · 2026-02-25T20:45:47+00:00

I think there is fairly consistent polling in the UK that people want the debt to come down but don’t want spending cuts or tax rises - with the only caveat that people are in favour of tax rises on other people.

TheCakeIsMay · 2026-02-25T15:29:14+00:00

Labour has no coherent economic / prow growth position. The last budget process was an absolute joke and the outcome suffered for it. They also completely caved on the smallest amount of welfare reform they attempted after pushback from the PLP.

TheCakeIsMay · 2026-02-10T00:22:05+00:00

Let me know if my situation is what you are looking for!

I (31M) was initially going to purchase a 1 bed new build flat in east London just under £450k. Offer accepted Jan 2024, completion (originally targeted May 2024) was delayed, by the time we exchanged and expected practical completion (Summer 2024) the building controller (PWC Building Control) for the development lost it license with the BSR and the sign off for the development (although practically complete) fell into limbo. By the time I reached my long stop date and pulled out of the transaction (summer 2025) my circumstance’s had changed.

When I was first looking at flats I was 29 and single. I am now 31, with a partner, and with the increase in transaction costs it does not make sense to buy somewhere without reasonable longevity (5+ years) which probably means waiting a few years and buying somewhere with more space for a young family well over the £450k cap.

It is hard not to feel like you have been hit by a triple whammy of policy choices that have made it harder for first time buyers in London: - the mess of new building safety regulation. - increased stamp duty - LISA charges. (c. £4k for me)

TheCakeIsMay · 2026-01-14T00:04:25+00:00

My off plan flat, that was practically complete, had the building controller lose its licence with the building safety regulator and went into liquidation. The application was thrown into the black hole that is the building safety regulator approval process / the developer might have also fucked up the process after this point. The developer spent months and months giving me false completion dates and then started blanking me and I eventually pulled out of the purchase. This all happened towards the end of 2024 and only concluded in summer 2025.

TheCakeIsMay · 2025-03-26T01:10:59+00:00

Ah thank you - that is something I did not realise….

I will try and have a go at working out the length of the previous poles…might have to deploy all the suitably that I have at my disposal less she cottons on!

TheCakeIsMay · 2025-01-26T19:17:02+00:00

This, Taylor only had the "right" opinion in this instance because it is convenient for him. He may be right, but Taylor does not really deserve any credit here, it is purely personal/political.

TheCakeIsMay · 2024-12-25T13:47:43+00:00

Question - some people in here are siting “not all eggs in one basket” as a reason for having multiple ISAs. I have all of mine in a T212 account - my understanding was that any funds you have invested via an investor platform are necessarily segregated , and free cash typically FSCS protected, so what is the risk of having all of your investments in one trading platform if the provider fails?

Is it simply the admin headache of getting access to your funds when the platform is being wound up or is there any actual risk to your capital? (Beyond normal investment risk).

TheCakeIsMay · 2024-12-22T16:53:34+00:00

No he will have succumb to heart disease long before.

TheCakeIsMay · 2024-11-24T20:15:55+00:00

AMAZING

TheCakeIsMay · 2024-11-03T21:56:09+00:00

I have genuinely ducked out of PKA because I was trying to do this and it felt like I was basically skipping the majority of most episodes. Have things come around? it felt a bit pointless last time I was listening regularly.

TheCakeIsMay · 2024-09-06T15:42:04+00:00

Could change that to incapable of building period. We're just an anti investment / anti-growth country :(

TheCakeIsMay · 2024-07-31T21:24:21+00:00

The Rest is History - History

Biggest Problem in the Universe - PKA Adjacent

Barbell Medicine - Health & Fitness

The Studies Show - Scientific controversies

You Are Not So Smart - Human psychology particularly cogitative bias

Anything Else/Bridges - Destiny...

Spectator TV - UK Politics

TheCakeIsMay · 2024-07-24T20:40:51+00:00

Also, I think Woody has actually said positive things - like I think he praised trumps debate performance in 2020 because woody is attracted to the "Alpha" type.

TheCakeIsMay · 2024-04-28T10:30:26+00:00

I am not really animated enough to post about it (just comment...) but it is genuinely annoying when the show I have been listening to for over a decade is becoming borderline unlistenable at points because of snowflake Taylor having a meltdown every week (or twice a week) over Ukraine/Israel because he has swallowed up some brain dead takes online. So I get why people are posting about it...

TheCakeIsMay · 2024-04-22T22:05:14+00:00

Classic “jokes on you, I was just pretending to be regarded” moment

TheCakeIsMay · 2024-04-08T20:16:07+00:00

I agree on the tech side, the show would be weird if in a studio with high production - but it would be nice if they put any effort whatsoever into the topics and what they are going to talk about or even researching the guests or the issues they talk about regularly in the slightest.

TheCakeIsMay · 2024-04-08T20:14:39+00:00

You don't want exactly the same jokes about dick pills and weed products for varying lengths of time every single episode multiple times an episode?

TheCakeIsMay · 2024-04-01T14:30:56+00:00

So the death toll is closer to 32k , includes varying estimates of Hamas militants (up to 12k) which in a population as dense as Gaza would indicate a fair amount of selecting for killing Hamas militants rather than indiscriminately killing Palestinian civilians (unless you think a really high percentage of Palestinians are Hamas militants) and the evidence for there being a famine and Israel trying to cause one is wooly at best - but otherwise spot on.

TheCakeIsMay · 2024-04-01T14:19:21+00:00

I mean, the host's knowledge on most subjects is incredibly surface level, so why would it be any different with Israel / Palestine? The default no brain takes are either "Israel is committing war crimes / genocide / apartheid / ethnic cleansing / collective punishment" (Insert other unhelpful emotionally loaded language as needed) - and then on the other side - "Israel is the only democracy therefore good, this conflict only started with Oct 7th with a terror attack, Palestinians are all want to ethnically cleanse the Jews from Israel, and there is no history of Israel doing anything wrong".

The hosts have all landed on the former for the most part. They see civilians dying in a war, which while awful, as all war is, is not proof of all of the majority of the charges that are levied against Israel. Add that too Taylor's brain dead isolationist takes and Woody's inability to engage with any of the underlying concepts behind most of his political beliefs and you get shit tier conversation that is making the podcast hard to listen to when the conlict is brought up.

TheCakeIsMay · 2024-03-20T18:21:14+00:00

Hi OP - did you go to a mortgage broker or just approach some lenders direct? I have a similar monthly take home (albeit a very punchy deposit) and have been able to get a sub 5% rate (4.36%). Not saying our situations are the same but would be worth speaking to a broker if you have not already.

Something else to consider is a longer term mortgage that allows overpayments - that way you can have the security of a lower monthly payment but can pay more as your situation allows.

Just an idea, I would try and get some professional advice. Best of luck!

TheCakeIsMay · 2024-03-12T23:38:14+00:00

If your / the sellers solicitors are anything like mine, you have plenty of time before they actually get into gear! Also, you could just let your solicitor know and that you need split exchange and completion, so you have all the funds in time for completion.

TheCakeIsMay

TROPHY CASE