Summer Budget 2015 – Landlords Reactions

Reply to the comment left by "Accidental Landlord" at "08/09/2015 - 11:56":

This is a very interesting article. I think the government will be asking people to convert their garages, lofts, etc, next to house people. I still receive messages for my spare room, at least one every week or two weeks, even though I stated that it is now taken. It would be interesting to see more homeowners having to take on lodgers, effectively being landlords receiving rent for properties they have taken a mortgage for, getting £7,500 per year tax free (perhaps rising in the future)...
Hang on, that smacks of buy to let in another guise...

Reply to the comment left by "Mark Alexander" at "08/09/2015 - 19:35":

Was the question I raised invalid?..its quite frustrating how raising any point here that sympathises with the hope of homeownership gets me slapped down . I have seen the abuse you have got in the Telegraph Mark for raising valid points ...so you must understand my frustration at times from dismissive responses I get here for not always seeing the same perspective. To set things straight one more...I am not a hpc 'r....i am a home owner, a landlord ...and In fact up until last year I had the housepricerecovery.com website. But I shut that down after 5 years...because let's face it...nobody likes a postive focused website. Peace and love.

Reply to the comment left by "Mark Shine" at "08/09/2015 - 20:40":

Hi Mark
"They would find it very hard to target my twin bro without attacking the incorporated institutions at the same time."
My accountant also thinks this is the reason they did not touch companies, much to complicated and costly to try and bring in.

(2) to give the govt time to consult with experts and alter the policy if required…

It would have been much better to do that before announcing ! very poor and these people are in charge of the country no wonder we are in such a mess.

Changes to the tax system can be massive and unexpected.

I can remember when the general consensus was that MIRAS would never be removed. And then it was.

Could CGT exemption on PPR be removed? Maybe. Not in the near term, but I wouldn't say never in the face of the tax changes we have seen so far.

Also, as I have been specifically mentioned wrt the HPC / 118 'clash of ideologies.' All I would say to participants on each forum (and the few that identifiably post on both) is: don't write off other forums entirely because of the extreme views of a few posters.

There are some very knowledgeable people on each forum, people that have put a lot of effort into researching to reach their point of view and backing that view with their own money: from this side mainly by investing in BTL, from that side mainly by not investing in property for a long time now. Both sides surely believed they were acting in their own best interest - that is, after all, the human condition. Moreover, the deeper one is in any particular position, the harder one will defend it - that is also the human condition.

It rarely does any harm to consider a different perspective on things, even if that perspective is the polar opposite of your current view and even if doing so doesn't change your own view one little bit.

As it goes, I post on both forums as I have a foot in both camps. I am a multi property landlord, potentially affected by the proposed tax changes and I think house prices are nearing an extreme in terms of affordability and, therefore, likely to correct sometime (I don't know when or by how much).

I have mentioned here previously that I am no fan of high leverage and that I can see the logic that leads people to say large, highly leveraged BTL portfolios have been very advantageous tax wise to unincorporated owners. A phrase I have used is that some large BTL landlords have paid marginal tax rates that would make the Starbucks CFO blush.

I am not a fan of anonymous trolls on forums, or in the comments section of newspapers. If a point can't be made in an attributable fashion, it is unlikely to bring much to the discussion imo.

Finally, if you are at either extreme end of any spectrum and very vocal on any subject, you are probably open to being singled out - rightly or wrongly - for attention more than others. That applies in relation to all matters financial more than in any other walk of life.

Reply to the comment left by "James Tallis" at "08/09/2015 - 20:50":

Do you think I'm stupid James?

Is it a coincidence that both you and your pseudonyms on The Telegraph website and HPC all share the same occupation, working hours, writing styles and post at the same time?

I'm sorry but I've decided that banning you is long overdue.

Adiós amigo!
.

Reply to the comment left by "Trendo " at "08/09/2015 - 20:46":

> Trendo

Also, given that most ST / Ptrship landlords that did incorporate would be required by any lender to sign a personal guarantee for any significant borrowing, that line becomes even more blurred, doesn't it?

I despise the dirty tricks and carefully selected quotes that the haters (ie HPC) use, but I did find the below post in the comments section of the Telegraph article amusing. It was from someone to the main ‘hater’ in the comments section (who I assume is also one of the main HPC antagonists/’ leaders’).

 RichardCG to Property11Hate • 7 hours ago

Hey 11Hate Wakey Wakey, I know you're on a day off, but don't waste it! So, from your response I take it that all your income is PAYE despite being incorporated?
Well if it is, you are highly unusual.
For the benefit of followers of this thread who don't know, let me explain how IT Contracting through a Ltd Co works.
You are retained for a fixed period (usually 6-12 months), and paid a daily or hourly rate. The going rate for IT Security is ~£600 per day.
If you work a 10 month year that's approx £120k PA.
From that £120k, you usually pay yourself the basic wage as PAYE which works out around £12k PA.
The other £108k is paid out as dividends. No NI is payable on this.
And you're saying that Landlords are tax evaders? Hmm, think you should take a look at you're own accounts first. Perhaps Mr Osborne should really try to enforce IR35 and get rid of all the disguised employment in the IT industry. That would raise a very tidy sum for the Treasury.

Reply to the comment left by "Trendo " at "08/09/2015 - 20:46":

Trendo, I couldn't agree more with your point about individual vs incorporated. I have already made contact with the chairman of the RLA and encouraged a legal challenge to the proposed clause 24 if it is passed, and I would certainly encourage the same with regard tax treatment of individual landlords who do exactly the same job as incorporated ones. This whole thing is about attacking the easiest target, and I for one am sick to death of it. We live in a democracy and this injustice and insane discrimination must be challenged.

Reply to the comment left by "Manchester Landlord" at "08/09/2015 - 21:02":

Too right Manchester Landlord. Hold on to that anger - it will come in useful.

Just received the following from the Government petitions website:

Hi Barry Fitzpatrick,

You recently signed a petition on the UK Government and Parliament Petitions website to: Reverse the planned tax relief restriction on 'individual' landlords: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/104880

The Petitions Committee considered this petition at its meeting on Tuesday 8 September.

The planned tax relief restriction is part of the Finance Bill currently being debated in the House of Commons. This Bill will be looked at by a Public Bill Committee – a group of MPs who go through a draft law in detail and debate it.

The Public Bill Committee can receive views from the public now.

You can find out how to send your views to the Public Bill Committee here: http://www.parliament.uk/business/news/2015/july/have-your-say-on-the-finance-bill-/

You can follow the progress of the Finance Bill here: http://services.parliament.uk/bills/2015-16/finance.html

Because the issue is currently being looked at in Parliament, the Petitions Committee decided not to take any further action on this petition. You can see all the decisions it made at its meeting here: http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/petitions-committee/news-parliament-2015/8-sept-committee-decisions/

Click this link to view the petition "Reverse the planned tax relief restriction on ‘individual’ landlords":

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

Thanks,
The Petitions team
UK Government and Parliament