Summer Budget 2015 – Landlords Reactions

LONDON TO MERTHY?

http://www.theguardian.com/money/2015/dec/28/newham-east-london-sees-uks-biggest-house-price-rise
"Newham. The area is a more affordable option for homebuyers in London after years of steep rises in more central boroughs"

In contrast:
"Merthyr Tydfil in south Wales was the worst performer in the Halifax survey, with prices down 3.8%, followed by Colwyn Bay in north Wales, and Durham, north-east England."

So is Newham in a bubble or just catching up - and Merthyr a buying opportunity?

Perhaps Gov could move half of its bloated departments to Merthyr, see if THAT has any effect!

http://www.theguardian.com/money/2015/dec/27/house-prices-in-2016-what-the-experts-are-predicting

"5%. Rightmove expects sellers in outer London to ask 6% more for their properties, but suggests some buyers might give up on the capital completely. “We think there might be a flow of people moving their money out of London,” said Mitchell. “We think this might lead to stronger growth in cities like Manchester, Leeds and Liverpool.”

This is AFTER the Alice Osborne tax, all the sources quoted still EXPECT prices to increase. Wher is the HPC?

It is clearly wrong to vilify such an important part of housing solution.

Gov aim should not be to wilfully bankrupt a sector of the community it had previously legitimised and encouraged.

From one LHA for example:-

“There is a high demand for affordable homes in Wiltshire, and across the UK in general. There were over 20,500 households registered for re-housing within Wiltshire alone with the numbers growing daily. Demand will always outweigh supply so the Council needed to ensure that those with the greatest need were prioritised for re-housing.

Wiltshire Council recognises the importance of the private rented sector in providing housing for its residents.

In Wiltshire there are in excess of 1700 properties that have been empty for more than 6 months. With demand for housing continuing to increase Wiltshire Council recognises the importance of making best use of existing homes. Returning empty homes to use has the following advantages;

- maintain the quality of the area and neighbouring property values,
- reduce the pressure to build on Greenfield sites to accommodate the extra homes that are needed to meet housing need,
- increase the housing options of those looking for a home in Wiltshire through additional availability,
- reduce the number of crime hotspots in the area,
- reduce anti-social behaviour.”

The simple case is: they are placing a 40% TAX ON RENT, rather than on profit, for tenants who's landlord provide less than 15 properties.

The Alice-Osborne tax has terrifying implications for any business.

It is inescapable that it will increase rents, particularly so at the most affordable end, and more likely to increase house prices than to reduced them - UNLESS it causes a destabilising downward panic spiral with potential for social collapse, even anarchy.

Reply to the comment left by "Chris Byways" at "28/12/2015 - 10:21":

Chris, the tax changes apply to all unincorporated landlords, regardless of how many properties they provide.

Reply to the comment left by "Seething Landlord" at "28/12/2015 - 10:51":

I understand this is not yet finalised and is to be consulted on. If the simple answer was to incorporate, this would be done, and then Alice would retro tax them........
I suspect Alice has some ulterior motives, believing it will be a vote winner from 20 tenants for the loss of every 1 Landord vote. Only the 20 are not going to materialise. But as a populist move to No 10, it looks a shrewd move - now.

http://www.lawyerherald.com/articles/23891/20151228/landlords-legally-counter-george-osborne-tax-relief-changes.htm

Landlords want to legally counter, George Osborne's Tax Relief Changes.

Reply to the comment left by "Chris Byways" at "28/12/2015 - 11:14":

Hi Chris

The consultation that you refer to is on whether companies with 15 or more properties should be exempt from next April’s increase in Stamp Duty. It has nothing to do with either clause 24 or non-incorporated landlords.

Reply to the comment left by "Chris Byways" at "28/12/2015 - 11:14":

Chris, there are many obstacles to incorporation by established landlords, which have been debated and commented on extensively here and elsewhere.

There is no planned consultation on Clause 24, which has received royal assent and is now law.

Appalled Landlord has already pointed out that Clause 24 and the proposed increase in SDLT are separate issues.

OK my error. The talk of the level playing field with the larger corporates......

Yes, there are problems with incorporation, but as Mark points out this can be a plan for some, and perhaps new acquisitions.

http://www.property118.com/section-162-s162-refief-landlords/82564/

Lun, nothing is past Alice in Blunderland.

It was back in May the Guardian gave their ringing endorsement to him

"George Osborne reminds us so often of his “long-term economic plan” that it’s hard sometimes to remember he hasn’t got one. The chancellor does have a long-term economic belief, though, which is that if you cut taxes and state subsidy, economic plans will sprout up all over the place, melding together into one big “plan”. Hopefully. The government has a long-term economic hope that the consequences of its short-term economic plan will be positive.

Even though the Blair-Brown interregnum involved quite a lot of state spending, they left one aspect of the previous Tory government’s long-term economic hope pretty much to its own devices. The UK’s long-term economic plan for housing has been running ever since tenants got the right to buy their council house in 1980. Part of the plan was that councils should refrain from supplying affordable housing, liberating the home-building sector from unfair competition and causing it to start providing affordable housing itself. Alas, the result instead has been a chronic housing shortage, making homes less affordable than ever. What went wrong?

Housing associations, it appears. With councils greatly hampered in their ability to provide affordable housing, and the private sector discovering that people were so keen to buy that there was absolutely no need to make the homes they were building “affordable”, housing associations moved into the councils’ slot and became the premier suppliers of affordable homes. Now, 35 years on, housing associations in turn face the prospect of being forced to sell their assets at a government-subsidised discount. Which, of course, will make it harder for them to raise the money to build new affordable homes, even though they’re more or less the only people doing it.

The Crowd Fund has surpassed £30'000!

Reply to the comment left by "Gareth Wilson" at "28/12/2015 - 14:16":

I am fairly optimistic that, it should surpass £50k mark by this Thursday!