In a final call on the Chancellor to help the private rental sector in today’s Budget, the National Residential Landlords Association has made a simple call for Jeremy Hunt to scrap unnecessary taxes.
Writing in the I newspaper, NRLA chief executive Ben Beadle states: “The Chancellor needs to scrap tax hikes which have undermined the supply of rented housing.
The country faces a chronic shortage of private rented accommodation. Ultimately it is tenants that suffer most. The mismatch between supply and demand, alongside high mortgage costs, are the biggest driver of rent increases.
“The tax system, as it stands, penalises the provision of the very homes people need and encourages short-term lets over long-term homes for rent. This is a direct result of a succession of misguided, tax hikes dating back to 2015.
“Mortgage interest relief should be reintroduced in full for the rental market. The stamp duty levy on the purchase of homes to rent out should also be scrapped.”
Unsurprisingly the opposite view is taken by Ben Twomey, chief executive of activist group Generation Rent.
In the same paper he writes: “With the cost of renting crisis still raging, the Budget has never been more important for tenants.
“Mortgage interest relief needs to be withdrawn from holiday lets, encouraging landlords to prioritise homes over holidays and enable renters to stay in long-term tenancies. The government must also make sure that landlords who sell their properties give first refusal to their tenants, something widely accepted across Europe. This could reverse last year’s shocking trend that a renting household was more likely to face homelessness than to buy their first home.
“Finally, tax relief for energy efficiency measures for private rented homes must be switched from capital gains tax to income tax. The present system inadvertently encourages landlords to sell up as it’s the only way they will see a return on their investment.
“Including these measures in the budget will improve an otherwise bleak picture for renters.”
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And so the show goes on 😂 they will NEVER learn or listen, leave them to it and let the bankrupt councils tell the story 😱💰 when having to provide more and more emergency 🆘 accommodation.
Another day another whinge
Well done Beadles About, where was you for the last couple of years?
Did I understand correctly?
Gen Rent Ben said something sensible about making energy saving measures a revenue expense instead of a capital one.
If even the most anti-landlord organisation can see that, how can the government not?
Agreed, Emily, but then he wants legislation to force landlords to offer first refusal to their tenants when selling. Idiot. 🤪 Why wouldn’t a landlord offer the property to the tenants? Saves on agent fees and means they have an incentive to speed up the process, rather than delay.
I offered my tenants the opportunity and, while they were grateful for the offer, they did their sums and had to decline.
Annoyed landlord, I've offered to sell 2 of my houses to tenants if they want to buy them and they have declined the offer.
As I don't want to evict good tenants I am keeping them for now, but would really like to sell them. until I am forced to sell them, and then I will probably have to go through the eviction route, which I am not looking forward to.
D Duck, I pre-warned my tenants we were going to sel,l so it was not a shock to them. When they said they could not afford to buy, we gave them three months notice, they actually left within a month. We gave them the extra time since they had a cat and was pleasantly surprised when they found somewhere so soon.
I have also offered to sell to several of my tenants, fact is, they are unable to raise the finance, which is likely why they chose to rent in the first place.
Next demand from Gen Rent will be to lobby for the ‘right to buy’ in the PRS and at below market value of course. We can see this coming down the line a mile off!
Deluded idiots!
I have been saying that all along. Right to Buy will be next after Landlords no longer able to sell a property with tenants in situ. Back to the bad old days before Mrs T introduced Section 21 ie sitting tenants and some will sublet like they do in Sweden.
Unfortunately the Government seems more prepared to listen to folk that have no understanding of economics and the free market, instead of people actually providing homes and jobs in the economy.
Remember Angela Rayner (according to Lord Ashcroft) is a big fan of Right to Buy having purchased her first home this way. She then went on to rent out it out to her brother whilst she moved into marital home. So at one stage she owned two houses with the second one being rented. Interestingly she didn’t have to pay Capital Gains Tax. I wonder how many people can now make a justifiable reclaim on this basis quoting the Angela Rayner Exemption?
A strict criteria of the mortgage is you cannot rent to direct family members, this also should be brought up. Also was her brother working? If not then it is benefit fraud.
More than happy for my Tenants to buy my rentals as l sell them off, but it would be at the going market rate otherwise HMRC will come after the vendor for money laundering or demand they pay Tax on the Gift (which is the difference between what the property sold for & their belief its market value should be!)
If the Tenant can afford it & wants to buy it then great.
Sarah
I have a nice detached house on quite a big plot between two others where normal houses were demolished and footballer bling mansions built for huge sums. Elsewhere nearby several other plots have had the same done.
Zoopla is telling me my house is valued at the same as those either side, which is nonsense. However I could well fall foul of HMRC if I sold this property to a family member for its real value rather than the value assumed based on nearby much more expensive properties.
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz yawn yawn.... Zzzzzzzzzzzz
D Duck. I think most Tenants are sharers and don’t want or capable of buying on their own, also not ready to settle down yet and when they are like many of mine who have bought want a smaller property and usually a property they pick themselves often in a different area or Town. They don’t want Government planning their future or where to live.
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