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Anger from landlords at Stamp Duty hike

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The surprise announcement in the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement of an extra 3% charge on Stamp Duty for buy to let homes has met with an angry reaction from landlords and letting agents. Mr Osborne is hoping the new charge will raise £1billion by 2021. The new charge comes on the back of the Chancellor’s move in July to restrict the tax relief that landlords were able to claim on mortgage interest.

Associate in the Conveyancing team Helen Jones predicts, "Landlords believe that tenants will end up bearing the cost of the latest tax rises and that this will result in a reduction of homes on the rental market, and that this in turn will push prices higher." A survey (Rentify) of about 1,000 landlords suggests these latest reforms will slow down the market, with nearly half expecting the changes to cause a severe drop in supply and demand of buy to let properties.

The housing charity Shelter released research that suggests that one in every 55 rented households in England has been put at risk of losing their home over the last year. This is due mainly to rising rents, cuts in housing benefit and the severe lack of affordable housing.

The chief executive of the National Landlords Association, Richard Lambert has said ‘.... the Chancellor wants to choke off future investment in private properties to rent..’ The Chairman of the Residential Landlords Association, Alan Ward said that the ‘biggest losers are tenants who will now find it even harder to get the accommodation they want at a price they can afford’.

Our Conveyancing Team, based in Christchurch, also cover Bournemouth, Poole and the New Forest. For a free initial chat, please call 01202 499255 and Helen or a member of the team will be happy to discuss any questions that you may have.

The content of this article, blog or video is not intended as specific legal advice. For tailored assistance, please contact a member of our team.

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