“Buy-to-let Tax cuts won’t put landlords off” says Waterfords.

July 9, 2015

Following the Chancellor’s summer Budget, in which he announced a substantial crackdown on mortgage interest tax relief, Brendan Cox of Waterfords says he does not think this will put people off investing in buy-to-let.

The amount landlords can claim as relief will, from 2017, be set at the basic rate of tax – currently 20 per cent, in a move which is said to ‘level the playing field for homebuyers and investors’. Whilst some industry experts believe this will cool the buy-to-let market, making property investment less attractive, Brendan Cox, Managing Director of Waterfords which operates across Surrey, Hampshire and Berkshire, says he doesn’t feel it will have a substantial impact.

He comments “I don’t think people will be put off. Buy-to-let investment still offers a good opportunity for people to make money from capital growth and most people consider the long-term gain over the immediate income. There are still some good yields to be had on a monthly basis, and granted, landlords aren’t going to be able to make quite as much money, but the gains are so big in others areas I would be surprised if this rocked the market very much.

In trying to cool the property market, the government may have created an even bigger problem for tenants because landlords may look to recoup some of the loss through rental income. In our experience, such is the shortage of properties available, that anything we take on the market is snapped up immediately therefore, landlords could probably add an extra 5-10% and still find willing tenants.

Initially the increase in inheritance tax allowance won’t have much of an impact. The most notable difference will be that elderly people, who previously might have downsized to divide up their funds in advance, will now remain in their homes safe in the knowledge their offspring will not have to pay a large tax bill upon their death.”

Christopher Walkey

Founder of Estate Agent Networking. Internationally invited speaker on how to build online target audiences using Social Media. Writes about UK property prices, housing, politics and affordable homes.

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