Summer Budget 2015 – Landlords Reactions

Reply to the comment left by "John McKay" at "01/08/2015 - 09:12":

Second is the point is about homeowners not getting mortgage interest relief. They used to, so reinstate it. The Chancellor said he wanted us all to be on a level playing field so if that’s the crucial factor then the answer is easy. I think this is an important point as it’s a good argument against those that have sympathy and empathy (as I’m sure we all do) with those people that want to get on the ladder. It should evoke public support.

Homeowners do not gat tax relief on finance costs for purchasing a property, but:

1. They do not pay capital gains tax when they sell.

2. If they choose to make money from their property, by taking in a lodger, then they can get more money tax free than the gross rental income from most of my properties, with little expense and little risk (they can kick out a lodger any time).

3. Soon the property they have bought will not attract inheritance tax.

4. (apart from the few who take in lodgers), They are not using their property for business purposes (with al its inherant risks) and paying tax on the profits they make.

Reply to the comment left by "Dr Monty Drawbridge " at "01/08/2015 - 10:36":

I agree that we are being ttreated unfairly in comparison to incorporated landlords.

Incorporated landlords may be hard hit by other changes (but as with you I have no evidence), but not to the extent that they are paying more than their profits/dividend income in tax.

Reply to the comment left by "Annie Stevens" at "01/08/2015 - 11:35":

Reply to the comment left by “Michael Barnes” at “01/08/2015 – 09:28“:

But landlords are not borrowing for personal investment, in the sense that I might borrow £1000 to invest in shares in the hope that it will make me more than it costs in interest. I wouldn’t expect tax relief on that. Landlords are borrowing, like any other small business, to purchase their stock-in-trade, ie houses, in the same way that a car hire firm might borrow to buy its cars for hire. We are running a business, which for many is our livelihood.

I quite agree and did not mean to imply otherwise.

I had read the comments as "do the same to companies as is being proposed for individual landlords", which would have zero effect (because there is only one corporation tax band).

It has been pointed out to me that what was intended is to raise the unfairness ofthe proposals such that
a) a landlord who is operating effectively as a sole trader could have a tax bill higher than his income from the business, but
b)if that same landlord had structured his business as a limited company, then he would continue to receive income (albeit less than at present)

3 more signatures on the petition...

Reply to the comment left by "Landing Lord" at "01/08/2015 - 16:28":

But that Shelter statement only applies when the landlord stops paying the mortgage.

If landlords need to sell, then they will evict tenants to sell, they won't wait for reposession by mortgage company.

The proposals give a couple of years for landlords to decide that selling is the only option and to kick the tenants out: few if any will have tenancies of such a length that they cannot use S21.

Reply to the comment left by "Connie Cheuk" at "01/08/2015 - 18:42":

I quite agree.

In Yeovil a refurbished ground floor flat in block where I have two flats recently sold after a year on the market.

Reply to the comment left by "Anne Nixon" at "02/08/2015 - 10:39":

That's simply not correct. The banks have the first charge over a property. The CGT liability remains with individual

Reply to the comment left by "Ahmad Jibril" at "02/08/2015 - 13:25":

Ahmad Jibril - The petition has only been going a few days so 6,000+ signatures is a good start. There is an article in the August YPN magazine by an accountant and he suggests 10 options to consider when planning for this tax change, if and when it comes in. I agree that landlords need to be considering options but for me the focus right now is to aim to have the proposal scrapped. The 10 options in the article are listed below.

1) pay off high interest mortgage borrowings
2) Re-mortgage high interest mortgage borrowings to a lower rate
3) consider selling properties with high mortgage costs
4) reduce personal profits via management company
5) transfer existing property to a company
6) transfer property ownership to basic rate tax payers
7) make pension contributions and charity contributions
8) claim every allowance/relief/expense possible
9) spend some money on repairs to lower taxable rental profits
10) give up your day job to avoid being a high rate tax payer

Every landlord's circumstances will be different and each should take advice when considering their own circumstances.

I think some landlords who are basic rate tax payers may not sign because they don't think they are affected. The Government may not seek to widen the net in future and make this tax apply to all individual landlords irrespective of their tax position.

Is there any way to track the number of signatures on the petition everyday (perhaps someone could just write it down at say 12:00 each day), then you could plot the daily increase on a calendar and maybe find a link between good signing days and what actions were taken in the previous days (or what media exposure just preceded it). It might help focus the efforts onto activities that have real benefits, rather than the random approach that seems to have been taken up to this point.

I HAVE SIGNED. I AM A BASIC TAX PAYER. THIS IS ABOUT SOLIDARITY TO MY FELLOW LANDLORDS WHO "HOUSE PEOPLE". THIS "TAX" ON ALLOWABLE INTEREST PAYMENTS IN A BUSINESS IS WRONG. WE MUST ALL UNITE AND BE STRONG, THINK IN TERMS OF "TEAM", NOT "i".