Comrade, your new windows are ready
Pioneer Trading’s Danny Williams contemplates the possibility of the People’s Window and Door Manufacturing Collective and speculates on tax rises in the Autumn Budget.
In the decade and a half that I have been assaulting the senses of the one or two readers that might have stumbled upon my rantings, I always try both to entertain and offer words of wisdom.
But I find it increasingly difficult when faced with a business environment within which there is little that one can do to offset the continuous assaults mounted by our own government.
Perhaps the greater plan of this government is to create state control of everything, a revival of the old Union of Soviet Socialist Republics with us all contributing towards a giant factory that produces all of the windows and doors required for absolutely everything.
The People’s Window and Door Manufacturing Collective will be the inevitable result of the combined lunacy of this government’s continued assault on business, which leaves me breathless in its lack of even simple common sense, let alone business acumen.
Returning to some sort of sense for the moment, I note Emplas’ esteemed leader Ryan Johnson’s recent commentary in which he asks: ‘Are we at the cliff’s edge?’. Ryan cites the cumulative issues of growth (lack of it); inflation (remaining high); an uncertain labour market caused by the challenging additional costs of employing people (that is having a further downward effect on consumer confidence); and an underwhelming construction sector which, despite the government’s much trumpeted commitment to building homes, remains slow.
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So even those of us that have toes dipped in both home improvements and house building, have little to crow about.
Worse is yet to come I fear, as we approach the Autumn Budget scheduled for the end of next month. Danny’s crystal ball is in for a service currently so I am left to speculate along with the best of them.
But it is pretty clear that property values will be targeted with a review of stamp duty and council tax or a combination of them, to squeeze more out of high-value homes, together with capital gains tax imposed on properties above certain thresholds. Most of which will be in the south-east of England. My hunting ground of course.
Our economy and financial well-being is based upon home ownership, something that is intrinsic to everyone that is buying their own bricks. It has been this way for decades and, rightly or wrongly, increasing property prices generally have provided comfort and security for almost 28 million Brits. They – we – are therefore, an easy target.
However, let’s dive deeper into just what is perceived as ‘high-value’…
Speculators believe that property-based taxes will begin on homes from £500,000 upwards with a higher penalty being imposed from £1 million. Now with average house prices across the whole of the UK coming out at £270,000 (£292,000 across England and £185,000 in Northern Ireland) this might offer easy moral pickings for Rachel in Accounts as many voters – and especially those in Labour strongholds (though do such places exist still?) – may see taxing properties above £500k simply as deserved ‘by them rich southern softies’.
But of course, London especially and the south east of England generally, contains a far higher proportion of homes above £500,000, where this value is the norm – £300k barely buys a two bed flat in these parts.
But across the UK generally, it might be assumed that higher valued properties also yield the greatest potential for home improvements, so any additional burden will murder sales of replacement windows and doors.
Rachel might also – and this feels highly likely to me – remove capital gains exemption for homes above £1 million, which will result in the collapse of property sales at this level with the resultant domino effect throughout the market and in turn therefore, further impacting consequential home improvements.
I am planning my business for such a scenario. But of course, neither am I giving up as that is not in the Danny make-up. In more than 35 years in this industry I have of course experienced a range of hardships and challenges. But never before has the biggest threat, my greatest competitor, and the people trying hardest to make doing business impossible, been my own government.
See you at the Collective, comrades.