Summer Budget 2015 – Landlords Reactions

I have signed the petition and sent the following email to the local MP:

I have just signed this petition and wanted you to be aware of the background to it and the serious implications of the budget proposal, which are not obvious from the way in which it has been presented by the Chancellor. This measure on its own is likely to send the housing market into a downward spiral, which the Bank of England has stressed should be avoided.
Government have estimated that 1 in 5 landlords will be affected, but this is meaningless without knowing how many properties are owned by this 20%. It is probable that they each have multiple properties, that their portfolios are highly geared and that they are therefore most at risk of their tax liability exceeding their net income or reducing it to the extent that their business is no longer viable. If the properties are either sold by the landlord or repossessed by the mortgage lenders, tenants will be at risk of eviction or if they are retained, significant rent increases will be needed to balance the books.
I hope that these are unforeseen consequences and perhaps you could let me know your reaction and where you stand on the matter.
The following Q&As have been prepared to draw attention to the potentially devastating effect on the private rental sector, tenants, businesses and tradesmen who rely on it:
(copied and pasted so won't take up space here!)

Awesome work all - I'm so impressed by this forum and its contributors:-)

My email inbox is straining under all the comments, but that's good. It just occurred to me that with the sheer volume, I keep worrying about losing track of the whereabouts of the link to the Petition, so I just wondered if it could somehow be tagged onto each post here or we could periodically remember to point to it again, like Follow the Link to the Petition Here: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/104880

Another thought I had: I am subscribed to email newsletters from lettingagenttoday.co.uk and others. They had an article about the tax changes and I noticed you can comment but only if signed in which involves giving phone number etc which I'm reluctant to do due to time pressures but I thought it could be good to get those sites on board (they also have related 'landlord' and 'investor' today).

I also think that anyone who has a landlord following / mailing list - like the landlord magazines and 'gurus' should be publicising the Petition to their followers... or else named and shamed for not doing so!!

https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/104880

Angela

Reply to the comment left by "Seething Landlord" at "31/07/2015 - 02:00":

This is really good. You should also write to the Chief Executive of your local council and to the leader of the council as they will need to deal with the consequences of there being less housing supply being available for people on benefits. Homelessness will also increase. Councils need to know about this. Ask your local council if they will be raising the issue at their committee and if they will write to the Government asking the Chancellor to scrap his plans.

Reply to the comment left by "Angela Bryant" at "31/07/2015 - 04:54":

Many of the gurus have been silent on this. There are lots of Property Networking Events all around the country. We need to get around them all and spread the word about this ill thought out tax proposal.

Reply to the comment left by "robert reinhart" at "08/07/2015 - 23:58":

The link doesn't work??

4,000 signatures at 07.09am, good progress team.

Here is a copy of my latest Freedom of Information request to HMRC. I know the Government won't be able to answer some of the questions I will ask. That helps our case as it will show that they have not fully considered the impact of their proposals.

This is a request for information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
The request is in connection with the Government’s plans to restrict finance cost relief for individual landlords.

HMRC has stated that 1 in 5 landlords will be affected by the proposal to restrict finance cost relief. I would like information on the number of tenants that will be affected by the proposal.

Reply to the comment left by "BTL INVESTOR SCOTLAND" at "31/07/2015 - 07:03":

BTL, your enthusiasm in fighting this unjustifiable taxation is certainly commendable!

Reply to the comment left by "BTL INVESTOR SCOTLAND" at "31/07/2015 - 07:03":

Absolutely BTL. Naturally I'll cover Peterborough as it's my event, but as your rightly say there are loads listed in YPN. May I suggest that we put together some sort of list to ensure they're all covered with no duplicated efforts?

If everyone is in agreement how do we want to handle it? A spreadsheet with events and which of us will tackle it???

Reply to the comment left by "BTL INVESTOR SCOTLAND" at "31/07/2015 - 07:03":

Yes that really riles me that many gurus have been silent on this so far... to my mind, it's showing your true colours if you're not prepared to acknowledge this is not the time for mindless positive drivel - we all need to FIGHT this... that's the only real way to be positive now, like the good people contributing to this thread. Well done all.

Good idea to contact leaders of Property Networking Events too, who must all have big lists.

https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/104880

The only one I've seen post anything anywhere is Mark Homer. I emailed Gill Fielding last night asking her to get behind it.

I think for them it's a bit of a dilemma. Do they advertise the issue and risk putting people off their courses or do they go for it and secure their future. No brainer from where I stand but maybe they're not into thinking long term.