Summer Budget 2015 – Landlords Reactions

The stock answer gets your average voter off their backs, and is typically sent by the MP’s PA (the MP probably didn’t even see it). If you persist with a second follow up it then gets in front of your MP. The PA acts as a filter.

Reply to the comment left by “Barry Fitzpatrick” at “09/08/2015 – 20:02“:

It is also important to write to MPs of all parties. As I have mentioned here, my MP is Labour and he has made the right noises. I wouldn’t write anyone off as not worth approaching. That’s DEFEATIST!

I am surprised that letting agents are keeping coy about this. Do they not realise what is coming to them if large landlords have to restructure their business to absorb the flat 32p in a pound levy on my interest payments that I currently don’t pay?
My letting agents are going to be my first line of defence. No way will i be paying my average of 10% management fee from the end of this year. I have calculated that this needs to be 5% maximum for me to stay profitable. If this is not acceptable to the letting agents, I may float a management company myself and take the management in house. Then I will charge myself in the region of 15% as I know I will be doing a better job than I am getting now. Letting agents should be getting worried and the fact that they have remained silent for so long on this issue is very short-sighted.

Totally agree Ahmad

I will send an email to Arla.

I have emailed the UKIP party as they didnt make any noises about the Buy to let sector leading up to the election.

Reply to the comment left by “Ahmad Jibril” at “09/08/2015 – 20:15“:

Absolutely Ahmad. I just received a newsletter from Martin and Co, again underplaying and misrepresenting it. This is despite the fact that Connie and I and probably others wrote to them a week or so ago explaining it all. I just sent a return email to them (avoiding the ‘no-reply email address), offering to explain it to them again, because they are still getting it wrong. Hopeless!

We still haven’t reached the 10000 with the petition. Any thoughts that we would ever have 100000 signatures could now be thrown out. Many thanks to all those who have toiled to get this far. Not enough empathy out there is the conclusion.

It is only natural that some of my tenants will also have to help me with this levy. Charging below market rents and not reviewing rents for long term tenants, as I have been doing, will be a thing of the past. I have already sent a few section 13(2) notices.
It is unfortunate, but something has to change if I were to keep my head above the water. The fact that tenants seem not to care about the flight pf Landlords, or even rejoice at it, proves to me that my business has to be mean and lean going forwards.

I haven’t spent the past many years putting together a viable business at huge cost of time and effort to me, to then kill over and allow a silly, iniquitous levy to pull me down. My ingenuity and entrepreneurial sprit will now be directed at devising mitigations of which there is no limit. It is ironic, but this levy is probably the stimulus that I needed to drive the business forward.

Hi Mark / Ros

I would like to thank you all for all the hard work and effort you are putting into this.

I am attending the Belfast property meet this Thursday and we will be disusing this with other landlords to help spread the word. Even yesterday and today I have met people who did not know or understand what this means.

I just read your post Mark and your honesty of your own situation on how these changes will affect you daunting. I know a lot of landlords in very similar situation. I can not see how the government think only 1 in 5 landlords will be effected.

What about the tenants and their families the government has a lot to answer for.

I hope that this gets sorted I think the best thing is to try and get it done so it would be for new purchases not past.

Reply to the comment left by “Ahmad Jibril” at “09/08/2015 – 20:15“:

The problem with letting agents is that, they live in present moment, they do not have ability to envisage nor have any planning ability.

They are worse sales men compared to any industry.

We are almost there 10,000 in one week is brilliant. It takes time to build a momentum..

Reply to the comment left by “shakeel ahmad” at “09/08/2015 – 21:23“:

If you look at the daily signature figures, as I have been doing, we have already had the inertia, the momentum and we are now in the decline. We will get 10000, but frankly, all that will do is convince the govt and Osbourne that the majority of the people support the change. The levy is more popular than Osbourne might have ever imagined. Who will deny that if, out of the so called 2mil landlords, their families and friends, agents and tenants, not to talk of the army of handymen that do the nitty gritty, only a paltry 10000 bothered to sign. The petition has run its course and we await what the govt says in relation to this but the sooner the discussions focus on mitigations the better.