Mansion Tax On London
October 18, 2014
Ed Balls announcement of a mansion tax at the Labour party conference in September was widely expected. Little is known about the detail, only that properties valued over £2 million will face an annual tax with the aim of raising £1.2 billion in revenue to the Exchequer. Estimates of how many properties will be affected depend on your source: Savills suggest 97,000, Zoopla 108,000 and Knight Frank 110,000. One thing is certain, the vast majority of these properties will be in London – 87% according […]
Amid the gloom of proposals for landlord registration and licensing, longer tenancies, rent control and most recently legislation to stop retaliatory eviction – with all the usual media images of feckless landlords and tenants surrounded by mould – came one ray of sunshine this Autumn. The Resolution Foundation and Chartered Institute of Housing Report ‘More Than A Roof’ makes some refreshing proposals. Initially it recommends a national framework for landlord accreditation, nothing revolutionary in that. A fraction of the UK’s 1.4 million landlords […]
This Autumn sees the usual round of political party conferences and the launch of the 2015 election campaign. What does this bode for landlords and how should you be adapting your business? First a quick look at the context. The regulatory landscape of the private rental sector was transformed by the introduction of Assured Shorthold Tenancies in 1989 and buy to let mortgages in 1997. It was the 2004 Housing Act that sent out the first ripples of increased regulation with a new definition of […]
There has been much talk in the press recently about London’s housing crisis and this is set to be a hotly debated issue as the election campaign goes into full swing during the Autumn conference season. I am always wary of the term ‘crisis’ as it suggests major surgery or state intervention are required. It is clear to many property professionals that policy makers manipulate the market at their peril, potentially enshrining ideological ideas into law that might be relevant now, but later become entrenched […]
Last week I took part in a debate on the new TV channel London Live. 25 year old Alice Carder had made a documentary ‘No Place Like Home’ which charted the plight of young Londoners trying to find housing they could afford. One important option is house sharing. Many of London’s 300,000 landlords provide good quality housing for sharers who sign a joint tenancy agreement and share the rent. Sensible lenders will also provide buy to let mortgages where there are up to four people […]