Summer Budget 2015 – Landlords Reactions

Reply to the comment left by "John McKay" at "17/08/2015 - 11:39":

There may be a stagnation in prices - and prices plummeting only in areas where there is a surplus of supply entering the market. That may happen in areas in the North - Cresswell, Worsop prices have not really crept up in the last four or five years and there are already many on the market and not many rushing to buy.

But even with stagnation or lower house prices, people are not overly encouraged to buy. Consumer confidence is low. The recent recession didn't mean people clawed at each other like a Harrods sale. People were very cautious. Investors speculated and bought. Only bigger investors will capitalise this time round.

Osborne wants us to sell to our tenants, like a right to buy, probably at our loss, but are they in a position to buy?

Reply to the comment left by "Connie Cheuk" at "17/08/2015 - 11:59":

No Connie I don't believe that most tenants (mine anyway) want to buy their rented home. I have one that actually sold his former home because he didn't want the hassle of ownership anymore. A while ago I had a family that always want to rent so they don't get caught out with big repair bills and also if they lose jobs they can claim LHA. I have other houses that I bought through SARB and have improved their homes so they're happy. The HMO tenants certainly aren't in a position to buy the places their in. I have only one LHA tenant who is a single mother of 5 and she certainly wouldn't want the responsibility of ownership, not that she's in any position to buy it.

And the list goes on.....

What I would love to see is some real statistical evidence of how many FTB's are being frozen out of the market due to LL's buying starter homes (I don't have any of these type of properties myself) and how many tenants want to buy the home their in and can actually get a mortgage.

All the rubbish that is spread in the papers about FTB's and so forth never have any proof.

Reply to the comment left by "Matthew Dervin" at "17/08/2015 - 11:58":

Yes, that's how much we're hated. In a nation that voted for a dog on two legs over a pair of talented singers still in their teens belting their palates out.

Looking at the asking prices for houses in this region, I think there must be a bit of fluff in the prices so I wouldn't be surprised if there was a small adjustment. But there are still far too many people needing homes in this region so the demand is strong. I am considering giving one set of tenants first refusal on a property as they like the house alot. So do we, but with the expected tax changes + interest rate rises it might be time to say good bye to it as use the money to reduce our outgoings.

Reply to the comment left by "John McKay" at "17/08/2015 - 12:32":

Much of what Osborne said relates to London. Being priced out of the market was what happened to me and thousands of Londoners, but he is not looking at the national picture and the unique problems in certain areas. Has he even visited these areas? Also, wages have not risen in line with house prices.

My lodger would rather drink all his money away than pay bills. Saving is an alien concept and he doesn't think about repairs. I don't think he even realised that I had the boiler serviced and sorted out a gas leak whilst he was glued to his computer game.

People will suffer, landlords and tenants, but as long as they're not on Osborne's street, he'll choose not to see.

Dear Connie ,
Thank you for registering for "Understanding the impact of the new budget proposals for you and your investing".
Aran Curry of The Insight Group, will discuss the implications of the forth-coming changes and how a bit of lateral thinking can reduce the impact.
Please send your questions, comments and feedback to: info@propertyinsight.info
How To Join The Webinar
Mon, Aug 17, 2015 7:00 PM - 8:00 PM BST
1. Click the link to join the webinar at the specified time and date:
https://global.gotowebinar.com/join/3487183959386431233/266022201

I am not supposed to share this link, but perhaps people would like to register, obtain a link, join the webinar and ask questions or just email questions to Aran Curry?

Interesting article in the Daily Mail online.

Not specifically about out issue but it has a lot about the demand in the UK for houses and a great quote "Last week, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors said the government was failing to address the issue of UK housing supply"

Read more: http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/markets/article-3200828/Bovis-Homes-sells-record-number-houses-average-price-264-200.html#ixzz3j4d1QwKl

RLA just sent me this :

Dear Landlords,

I’m sure it hasn’t escaped your attention but back in the summer budget the Chancellor announced a surprise raid on mortgage tax breaks. From April 2017 Mortgage Interest Relief for residential landlords will be restricted to the basic rate of tax, meaning 20% instead of the current 40%.

Although you can use the RLA calculator (link at the bottom of the email) to see how this impacts you, typically a landlord with £150,000 buy-to-let mortgage on a property worth £200,000 would be likely to see his or her profit fall from roughly £2,160 to £960 a year.

Over the past month the RLA has met with the Treasury and Mr Osborne directly and although we have told that “there will be no U-turn on this” it shouldn’t stop us from trying.

We have however been asked to propose other ‘tax solutions’ to the treasury and will be doing so in the near future. If you have proposed alternatives on taxation then we would be happy to hear them, particularly if you can provide reasons other than just it will save the landlord money. For instance, allowing energy efficiency improvements to be written off against income as opposed to capital improvement will encourage landlords to invest in energy efficient measures. Email you thoughts in to Daniel.Bellis@rla.org.uk

In the meantime a petition has been set up calling for the reversal of the planned tax relief restriction on ‘individual’ landlords. The petition already has 13,000 signatures which means that the Government will formally respond. If we can reach 100,000 signatures it will be considered for a debate in Parliament. Although we may be a long way off 100,000 yet, each signature counts. The petition can be found here - https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/104880

RLA Tax Calculator - http://www.rla.org.uk/taxcentre/tax-calculator.shtml

Kind Regards,

Reply to the comment left by "Trendo " at "17/08/2015 - 13:22":

Excellent News, from now on I will be recommending the RLA over NLA every time! 🙂
.

Reply to the comment left by "Trendo " at "17/08/2015 - 13:22":

Hi Trendo

Even the RLA has fallen for the Treasury’s confidence trick that they are proposing to remove a “tax break” from BTL landlords.

If we could deduct BTL interest from our salaries or any other income to reduce tax, that would be a tax break. But we can’t and that is not why we took out the loans.

We took them out to buy assets that would yield taxable income, like any other business. And we should be allowed to continue to deduct finance costs, just like any other business.

We must not suggest alternatives, we must fight to make it apply to new purchases only.