Madam, – Martin Walsh (Opinion, April 26th) is right to suggest that we must now erect strong defences against any future housing bubbles.
He rightly comments that it is the price of the land, not the buildings themselves, that drives a housing bubble, but his policy recommendations fall far short of what is needed to tackle this basic problem.
The easiest way to protect against future bubbles is to introduce an annual land value tax on all land.
This would not only dampen any tendencies towards a future house price explosion, but discourage land speculation and urban sprawl, create jobs and provide government with a sustainable revenue stream to pay off debts and to reduce taxes on wages and trade. – Yours, etc,