Landlords and property seen as purely investment tools to blame?

An article today by DailyMail online reports on the increasing generation of rent figures and how the Conservatives are looking to tackle this growing concern with an interest in increasing their own popularity with younger adults across the country.

Certainly today, property is far more of an investment product over being actually a home, prices driven up purely on what they can earn people / businesses with every single possible penny squeezed from them and an increasing amount of genuine first time buyers being forced out of the market and many times struggling to afford their rent.

Under the plans, landlords would be encouraged to sell homes to tenants by being capital gains tax break.

So they would not have to pay the 28 per cent tax on their profits if the buyers had lived in the property for three years or more.

This new scheme is initially looking at tempting landlords to sell their property portfolios with a bait of zero capital gains? Sounds a bit dodgy to me and how is that fair? What the easy solution would be of course, though many Tory MP’s have property portfolios and would not want it, is a straight and easy to understand level of tax on 2nd homes. If a landlord has has a portfolio then they are scaled up taxes so eventually after say five property it is simply uneconomical to own anymore. This would flood the property market, cause a correction in house prices, enable more genuine buyers to purchase and own a home and everyone is happy – Of course except those who see property as a business or those in rental property that should not be, ie illegal immigration.

Theresa May has pledged to get the country building again as she makes tackling the housing crisis a key plank of her premiership.Plank being the operative word here I think…

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.

You May Also Enjoy

Breaking News

Nationwide House Price Index – Thoughts from the Industry

The latest Nationwide House Price Index for July 2025 shows that: House prices increased by 0.6% between June and July of this year. On an annual basis, the average house price increased by 2.4% up from a 2.1% annual rate of growth in June. As a result, the average UK house price now sits at…
Read More
Breaking News

Nationwide House Index – July 2025

Annual house price growth edges higher in July Annual rate of house price growth increased modestly in July to 2.4%, from 2.1% in June House prices were up 0.6% month on month UK house price to earnings ratio at lowest level in over a decade at c.5.75 Headlines Jul-25 Jun-25 Monthly Index* 540.5 537.4 Monthly…
Read More
Breaking News

Late payment reforms offer hope for SMEs

The Government has unveiled its Small Business Plan aimed to support SMEs and unlock growth. This plan outlines their intention to tackle late payments, an issue which costs the UK economy £11bn a year and forces 38 businesses to shut down every day. Richard Beresford, Chief Executive of the National Federation of Builders (NFB), said:…
Read More
Breaking News

Late payment reform is welcome, says FMB

Measures announced as part of the Government’s ‘Small Business Plan’, to tackle late payments and tool theft, futureproof skills, and improve access to finance, are welcome steps to create a more level playing field for small building companies, say the Federation of Master Builders (FMB). Brian Berry, Chief Executive of the FMB commented: “Late payments…
Read More
Social Housing 2019
Breaking News

Build to Rent sees global surge

Build to Rent Goes Global: New Data Reveals Surge in UK, US, Australia and New Zealand New global data from Inventory Base reveals that Build to Rent (BTR) is no longer a UK phenomenon. n, it’s a rapidly expanding housing model gaining serious traction across New Zealand, Australia, and the United States. Nowhere is this…
Read More
Breaking News

Number of estates paying IHT jumps 13%

HMRC has released its annual inheritance tax (IHT) stats for the 2022/23 tax year. Headlines include: Number of estates paying inheritance tax rose 13% to 31,500. The average IHT bill fell by 1.4% to £212,000. 0.03% (202) of estates paid 11% of all inheritance tax and 1% of estates paid around 65% of all inheritance…
Read More