Issues of housing justice and steep real-estate prices have led to dissatisfaction among young voters, who are turning away from the two major parties, the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) said yesterday, blaming unreasonably high housing taxes collected by local governments.
“The ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government has taken up measures to bring down property prices and has promoted fairness and housing justice for years, but housing prices in cities are still climbing,” TSU Chairman Liu Yi-te (劉一德) told a news conference at the party’s office in Taipei.
Liu said these measures include heavy fines and other punishments to combat property speculation by investors, as well as a registration requirement for the actual price of a transaction to prevent the recording of inflated prices and deter owners and agents from taking advantage of the opaque process, he said.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
In recent years, one main reason for the surging prices is rezoning by local governments, opening plots for farming and industrial use, and for real-estate development, as the land can increase in assessed value by 10 times or more overnight, while local governments make huge financial gains by collecting the Land Value Increment Tax, which could be as much as 10 to 20 percent, Liu said.
This has been a major source of tax revenue for Taiwan’s six special municipalities in recent years and is the main driver of high real-estate prices, he said.
High property prices cause the younger generation to choose not to marry or raise a family, creating a declining birthrate, resulting in sectors of “dissatisfied, frustrated” young voters who are turning against the DPP and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), he said.
To drive down prices and enact fairer policies, former TSU legislator Chou Ni-an (周倪安) provided several recommendations, including for the government to build more social housing and subsidize housing for younger people
On taxes from land rezoning, TSU legislator-at-large candidate Chang Teng-kai (張登凱) said that 30 percent of these tax revenues should be allocated specifically toward achieving housing justice, such as the provision of financial assistance to younger people for purchasing or renting a home, and housing subsidies for working-class people and senior citizens.
Chang said that taxes collected by local governments should be put into a dedicated “public housing assistance and saving fund” to help younger generations, laborers and senior citizens in subsidizing their rent or first-time home, or go into building social housing units.
TSU social movement department head Ou Yang Jui-lien (歐陽瑞蓮) said that the government could learn from Singapore in providing fair and low-cost housing for all of society.
Singapore has constructed extensive social housing for its citizens, and the monthly fees are not based on the land values of a particular city section, but rather is means tested in which working-class households would pay in accordance with their lower monthly income, while those with a higher monthly salary would pay a higher rate, she said.
Tropical depression TD22, which was over waters south of the Ryukyu Islands, is likely to develop into a tropical storm by this morning and pose a significant threat to Taiwan next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. The depression is likely to strengthen into a tropical storm named Krathon as it moves south and then veers north toward waters off Taiwan’s eastern coast, CWA forecaster Hsu Chung-yi (徐仲毅) said. Given the favorable environmental conditions for its development, TD22’s intensity would reach at least typhoon levels, Hsu said. As of 2pm yesterday, the tropical depression was about 610km east-southeast of Taiwan proper’s
RESTRICTIONS: All food items imported from the five prefectures must be accompanied by radiation and origin certificates, and undergo batch-by-batch inspection The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Wednesday announced that almost all produce from five Japanese prefectures affected by the 2011 Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant disaster would now be allowed into Taiwan. The five are Fukushima, Gunma, Chiba, Ibaraki and Tochigi. The only items that would still be blocked from being imported into the nation are those that are still banned from being circulated in Japan, the FDA added. With the removal of the ban, items including mushrooms, the meat of wild birds and other wild animals, and koshiabura” (foraged vegetables) would now be permitted to enter Taiwan, along with the other
A new tropical storm is expected to form by early tomorrow morning, potentially developing into a medium-strength typhoon that is to affect Taiwan through Wednesday next week, the Central Weather Administration said today. There are currently two tropical systems circulating to the east of Taiwan, agency forecaster Hsu Chung-yi (徐仲毅) said. The one currently north of Guam developed into Tropical Storm Gebi this afternoon and is expected to veer toward Japan without affecting Taiwan, Hsu said. Another tropical depression is 600km from the east coast and is likely to develp into the named storm Krathon either late tonight or early tomorrow, he said. This
DIVA-READY: The city’s deadline for the repairs is one day before pop star Jody Chiang is to perform at the Taipei Dome for the city’s Double Ten National Day celebrations The Taipei City Government has asked Farglory Group (遠雄集團) to repair serious water leaks in the Taipei Dome before Friday next week, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said yesterday, following complaints that many areas at the stadium were leaking during two baseball games over the weekend. The dome on Saturday and Sunday hosted two games in tribute to CTBC Brothers’ star Chou Szu-chi (周思齊) ahead of his retirement from the CPBL. The games each attracted about 40,000 people, filling the stadium to capacity. However, amid heavy rain, many people reported water leaking on some seats, at the entrance and exit areas, and the