Tenants and first-time buyers could be left worse off if the government continues to squeeze landlords, industry figures warned.<\/p>\n
Landlord groups are worried the Chancellor Rachel Reeves could again increase taxes on landlords, after already increasing the stamp duty surcharge from 3% to 5%.<\/p>\n
Tax experts have suggested that landlords could be forced to pay National Insurance on rental income at a future fiscal event.<\/p>\n
John Davison (pictured)<\/em>, head of product, proposition & distribution at mortgage lender Perenna, said: \u201cThe more you tax landlords, the more you squeeze them out of the market, which means that rents rise and fewer people can afford to rent. So, ultimately, it\u2019s the tenants that lose out.<\/p>\n \u201cSuccessive governments have targeted landlords in a bid to raise extra revenue and free up housing stock for first-time buyers. As Chancellor, George Osborne hit landlords with higher rates of stamp duty in 2015 and scrapped tax relief on mortgage interest payments a few years later.<\/p>\n \u201cThe current Labour government is pressing ahead with plans to tighten the regulation of the sector, through the Renters\u2019 Rights Bill. It is also looking to force new energy efficiency standards on private rented properties by as early as 2030.\u201d<\/p>\n Davison was speaking at a recent roundtable on the future of the mortgage market hosted by communications consultancy MRM.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Elise Coole, managing director of specialist buy-to-let lender Keystone Property Finance, who was also present at the roundtable, highlighted how increased regulatory scrutiny has accelerated a shift towards professionalisation of the rental market.<\/p>\n She said: \u201cWe are seeing more limited company landlords and, on the whole, they are the younger generation responding to new market conditions.<\/p>\n \u201cThe limited company is now firmly the structure of choice for younger investors starting out on their journey.\u201d<\/p>\n In October, Keir Starmer suggested landlords do not meet the definition of \u201cworking people\u201d and therefore would not be immune from future tax rises.<\/p>\n However, despite a \u201cbarrage of assaults\u201d on landlords over the last decade, Jeni Browne, Sales Director at broker MFB,\u00a0said she was confident about the long-term future of the buy-to-let market.<\/p>\n She said: \u201cThere was a big influx of buy-to-let landlords in their 30s and 40s after the credit crisis, with more lenient lending parameters at that time. Most are now building up to retirement and now seeing too much hard work, too much regulation and now just want to sell.<\/p>\n \u201cBut I do think we\u2019re going to have a new wave of smaller landlords coming back to the table with a clean slate who have their eyes more open to what being a landlord is now. The private rental sector is a fantastic place to be, it offers social security and provides a really important service as well.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Tenants and first-time buyers could be left worse off if the government continues to squeeze landlords, industry figures warned. Landlord groups are worried the Chancellor Rachel Reeves could again increase taxes on landlords, after already increasing the stamp duty surcharge from 3% to 5%. Tax experts have suggested that landlords could be forced to pay […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":873,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-872","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-second-home"],"yoast_head":"\n