Reply to the comment left by Steve Hards at 26/05/2018 - 16:06

I've noticed that my suggested first line 'Renting your home?' includes a lot of people with landlords who are not affected by S24. So the second line would be more accurate, but just as effective, as: 'The Government may be picking your pocket'. Then the website could make it clear from the start just who it applies to.

The current ad is not really appropriate for a billboard next to a road. Those spaces are typically for ads that can be read and understood in 2 to 3 seconds, ie. as you're driving past. Usually a 10 word headline and (these days) a url.
Long copy ads such as your current one are much better suited to places where people are stationary, captive and waiting, ie bus shelter end panels, insides of tube carriages, across the tracks of train platforms, or other such places where your target audience is likely to be idle.
The shorter one is better suited to roadside placement, but could be more dramatic to spur the reader into action (think of how strong (but simple) those landlord-blaming Shelter ads were a few years back: https://www.property118.com/revenge-eviction-landlord-right/69851/).
Owen O'Neil and Steve Hards' comments have got the right ideas, esp Steve's suggestions for copy.

Inspired by the fact that many if these billboards are in my local area, I wrote using the link previously suggested, to my local MP. This is his reasonably prompt reply:

'Thank you for contacting me about changes to the taxation of landlords.

I am passionate about helping small businesses thrive and promoting a strong and thriving professional rented sector. However, this needs to be balanced against the interests of the wider economy, including home ownership rates, a fairer tax system, and mitigating against any future risks.

I think it is right to restrict the tax relief that landlords of residential property can get. Previously, the tax system supported landlords over and above ordinary homeowners, with tax relief particularly benefiting wealthier landlords with larger incomes. Every £1 of finance cost they incurred allowed them to pay 40p or 45p less tax.

The changes will mean we stop treating individual landlords differently on the bases of how income tax they pay.

The changes to Mortgage Interest Relief do not tax landlords on turnover as opposed to profit. Rather, they remove mortgage interest from what is qualified as 'allowable expenses'. Maintenance and repairs (along with agents' fees, legal fees, insurance, utilities, and service charges) are all still 'allowable expenses' and thus still tax deductible.

Changes to Stamp Duty Land Tax are part of the Government's strategy to improve home ownership. It cannot be right that in many areas local people are being priced out of a home. Many second homes are cash purchases that aren't affected by the restrictions on mortgage interest relief; and many of them are bought by those who aren't resident in this country.

At the moment, letting agents are able to charge unregulated fees to tenants. For too many tenants, fees appear disproportionate to the work carried out and fees can spiral out of control. As the number of families renting grows, I welcome the announcement that letting agents' fees to tenants will soon be banned.

The changes to tax relief are being introduced gradually from April 2017 over 4 years. This will give landlords time to plan for and adjust to these changes. Less than 1 in 5 individual landlords are expected to pay more tax as a result of the restriction to Mortgage Interest Relief.

Thank you again for taking the time to contact me.

Kind regards,

Tobias

Rt. Hon. Tobias Ellwood
Member of Parliament for Bournemouth East'

I've now asked him to validate some of his stats and pointed out that letting agent fees are not relevant to the discussion around Section 24

Reply to the comment left by HilsGE at 29/05/2018 - 11:07
Typical governmental tosh! He does not understand the principle. And the fact that this is applied retroactively. And the fact that now the income from properties is ADDED to the income from other sources- which pushes a lot of people to 40% bracket. And the fact that only those who have a BTL mortgage are affected. And the fact that.....
I stopped writing to my MP, as I am getting that s...te all the time. Excuse my French.

Reply to the comment left by Whiteskifreak Surrey at 29/05/2018 - 11:21
The Portsmouth Landlords (PDPLA) discussed this yesterday, not having seen this thread and agreed that the original billboard is too wordy (for a passing motorist to read) and not clear enough for the target audience. Without much effort we suggested wording of the form, "Is Your Landlord Selling Up? Need to Find A New Home? Ever Wondered Why? GoTo Section24.info to find out" Not ideal but an example of something more focussed on the people we need to support us. We need to get the message to tenants and 'fans of social housing'/traditional labour supporters as without them we are always a 'privileged minority' whether we see ourselves that way or not. And unless we get as wide an audience as possible talking to MP's and other politicians on the doorstep, no one will change anything.

Reply to the comment left by Martin Silman at 30/05/2018 - 15:52
I commend your new thinking on this Martin and also the support that has been pledged by PaDLA .

I know David Heard is talking to quite a few of the regional landlords associations and is hopeful they will all chip in a further £500 each as well as encouraging their members to add to the pot and take further positive campaign action too. He is also looking to cut more deals with other billboard owners.

Whilst all of this is going on I think we all need to be open minded in regards to the design of the next set of billboards, so I ask all to keep the ideas flowing please. David Heard must, of course, have the final say because without his initiative this campaign would never have happened.

We must also encourage people to print of copies of the billboard onto A4 via the link on the http://www.section24.info website and asks shopkeepers and letting agents to display them in shop windows and notice boards.

There really has to be a real attention grabber, that can be read in a couple of seconds as other had rightly stated. The call to action has to be memorable otherwise 2 miles down the road it'll be forgotten, so the "stealthtax.uk" would fit the bill.
As a headline my suggestion is:
"Section 24: the 'stealth' tax that will increase your rent by 25%"