A personal view of Shelter’s latest anti-landlord campaign

29/04/2017

I am writing my thoughts here about Shelter, because they appear to have banned me from their Facebook page. I can still see their campaigns, but have no right to reply on their site, so have chosen to point out here what I would have written on their page: Shelter’s latest campaign is about mental… Read more

Joseph Rowntree Foundation report on PRS lessons from Ireland – A landlord’s perspective

26/04/2017

I offer here a brief critique of the report which has just been published by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation. To download the full report please CLICK HERE Those of you who are aware of the debates surrounding Section 24 and who have kept abreast of our research findings on Property118 will know that we are… Read more

Guess Who?

10/04/2017

I recently exchanged a number of emails with someone who supports Section 24 of the Finance (No. 2) Act 2015.  The emails are self-explanatory. The challenge for you is to guess who my correspondent is? EDITORS NOTE This is a very long article which you will not want to stop reading once you get into… Read more

Similar tax for similar incomes

08/03/2017

Philip Hammond stated in the Budget: ‘A fair system will also ensure fairness between individuals so that people doing similar work for similar wages and enjoying similar state benefits pay similar levels of tax.’ I was very pleased to see this basic principle affirmed by the Chancellor as, logically,  he will now have to reverse… Read more

Jacob Rees-Mogg recognises damage done by the Treasury

23/02/2017

It is now clear that the Treasury, under George Osborne’s stewardship, made some catastrophically bad decisions with the twin aims of courting popular opinion by appearing to go for the ‘nobs’ and also of raising money towards his manic deficit reduction quest. As part of this he imposed a large extra burden of stamp duty… Read more

Newsnight’s biased anti-landlord coverage!

08/02/2017

To whom it may concern. I watched your programme last night and must point out firstly an error that was made. In the introduction to the film shown, Emily Maitlis stated: “in this next film we meet three individuals, each kicked out of their private lodging when things got tough…” In addition to the unprofessional… Read more

Letter to Gavin Barwell Housing Minister

Dear Mr Barwell, I noticed in your appearance on Newsnight last night that you said the main cause of homelessness was the ending of a private tenancy. In fact, it is important to keep explaining to people who say this (you have clearly picked this up from the anti-landlord rhetoric of Shelter and the like)… Read more

Crisis Campaign ‘Home No Less Will Do’ – You help landlords and we will help you!

06/02/2017

The housing charity, Crisis, has recently launched a campaign called ‘Home No Less Will Do.’ I have often written to Crisis since the campaign was launched against Section 24 of the Finance (no.2) Act 2015. Unhappily, I have never received an answer before now. They want our help now though. Specifically, they want private landlords… Read more

The real reason why landlords are now going to be forced to evict tenants

30/01/2017

In an article for the Northamptonshire Telegraph Councillor James Burton was reported as below: “The problem is one that has affected councils across the country, and Cllr James Burton (Con, All Saints) says it is not one members are taking lightly. He said: “Homelessness is happening throughout the country, not just in Kettering. It is a… Read more

The Treasury needs to listen to the economists! Scrap Section 24 now!

14/12/2016

Ever since the Government announced that landlords would no longer be allowed to offset the finance costs of their businesses, prominent economists have opposed this. Immediately following the Summer Budget of 2015, Professor Philip Booth from the Institute of Economic Affairs, as well as Paul Johnson from the Institute of Fiscal Studies were invited to… Read more

Government sponsored moves to Spain?

12/12/2016

300,000 new homes are needed each year in the UK apparently. On the other hand in Spain there are 388,000 properties that have never sold and are lying empty. It seems to me that people could be incentivised to go and live there instead of the UK. No idea how the plan would work, but… Read more