A Landlord’s Guide To The Budget
March 19, 2016
The dust has settled on George Osborne’s budget, well at least most of it, the political fallout of Ian Duncan-Smith’s resignation, I suspect, has only just begun. The chancellor says his government wants to “tax the things it wants to reduce, not the things it wants to encourage.” Having increased stamp duty on purchases by landlords and reduced Capital Gains Tax for everybody except landlords, his position on those of us providing 19% of the UK’s housing stock is clear – we are not welcome. […]
Predictably the first quarter of this year is seeing a flurry of sales to landlords and investors before the 3% stamp duty surcharge comes into effect on 1 April. Buy To let lending was up 22% year on year for the month of January 2016. Unless you’re a cash buyer with an expensive solicitor, you’ve left it too late now to complete before the deadline, realistically offers to buy had to be accepted by the end of January at the latest. The big question now […]
I’ve been planning for 2016 and trying to forecast what will happen to interest rates and house prices. 2015 was an extraordinary year for the private rented sector. According to NLA research landlord confidence in the future of their business has fallen to the same low point it hit in the credit crunch. George Osborne’s surprise colonisation of government housing policy resulted in the reduction of mortgage interest relief, abolition of the 10% wear and tear allowance on furnished properties and increased taxes on dividends. The cherry on the cake in the Autumn […]
Imagine a perfect world where all properties were freehold. Unfortunately in England, this scenario doesn’t exist. The main advantage of buying freehold is that you have total control – but with that comes all of the maintenance bills of course. I fully appreciate that sometimes we have to buy a leasehold property because the budget we have for a particular location will not stretch to a self contained building on its own plot. Beware of the pitfalls though – here are ten to consider:
Many in the landlord community viewed Ed Milliband’s proposals for the private rented sector with derision and after a short post election honeymoon period we have been digesting surprise tax changes from George Osborne’s Summer budget. Next the election of Jeremy Corbyn as Labour Party leader, described by party heavyweight Lord Faulkner as “a political earthquake.” In the run up to the May 2015 election National Landlords Association colleagues and I jousted through a string of media interviews rebutting proposals for increased regulation. I remember […]