It seems the law of unintended consequences has struck again in Britain, and the environment could be the loser.
In an attempt to stop owners of factories, offices and warehouses from leaving their premises empty in the hope of higher rents, the government imposed a tax on vacant property.
But with the property market now in deep trouble, some landlords are finding they can’t or won’t pay the tax and are demolishing their buildings rather than leaving them empty, according to newspaper accounts here.
Opponents of the levy are calling it the “bombsite Britain tax”, the Financial Times reported, in a reference to the thousands of buildings flattened by German bombers in World War Two.
So how green is that?
Britons are being urged by officials to stop wasting food and start mending their clothes, among other things, in the name of reducing their carbon footprint.
How can a tax that has the effect of encouraging people to demolish perfectly serviceable buildings square with any real concern for the environment?
