Summer Budget 2015 – Landlords Reactions

Reply to the comment left by “Appalled Landlord” at “19/08/2015 – 19:59“:

Ltd companies may be next anyway. Plus many cannot afford to incorporate, you’re right. At least with new finance, people are forewarned and know what they’re getting into.

Which was denied existing landlords.

The evening standard features ‘Diary of an estate agent’. What, are they more popular than landlords now?

I agree with the comment about new purchase debt only. In fact I’ve just emailed the RLA as an alternative. If people agree, perhaps if we all email this idea then it may gain strength as a proposal for the RLA.

Just read this

It is true that the loose regulation of buy-to-let mortgages is difficult to defend, not least because small landlords are prone to speculation. The Bank of England’s latest Financial Stability Report, for instance, highlights loose regulation of the buy-to-let lending sector as a potential source of house price inflation that would price youngsters out, as well as financial instability.

But in truth, the effect of the buy-to-let sector on house prices is not well understood. On the one hand, the introduction of buy-to-let mortgages in 1996 cut costs for landlords, increasing lending and putting pressure on house prices. On the other, the surge in landlords should have boosted competition in the rental sector, potentially reducing the demand for home-ownership by making renting cheaper.

There has only been a very limited amount of empirical research conducted on whether buy-to-let lending inflates house prices. But that which has been done suggests that the effect is minimal. A report published in 2007 by the National Housing and Planning Advice Unit, a British quango, tried to isolate the impact of buy-to-let lending on house prices, using an economic model controlling for other factors known to drive prices. They found that just 7% out of a total increase in house prices of 150% between 1996 and 2007 was due to increased lending to landlords. The broad consensus among economists is still that rising incomes, lower interest rates, a growing population, and the wider increase in credit availability more readily explains rising prices. Ultimately, there is only one solution to Britain’s housing affordability crisis: build more houses.

Just a thought : if there are 200,000 people signed up to Property118, why have we not had all this lot signing the petition yet? Have they all been emailed yet with the link and some info??? If we get the 100,000 signatures then it goes on the agenda in the House of Commons I believe….

Reply to the comment left by “KATHY MILLER” at “19/08/2015 – 20:27“:

Hi Kathy

Where did you read this? Can you copy and paste the webpage?

Hi Appalled landlord

http://www.economist.com/blogs/freeexchange/2015/07/economics-buy-let

Its really hard to build more houses on infill sites since the government gave all the NIMBY powers, when the council do approve the committee members turn it down.

You then are in the appeal stage and at the mercy of the planning inspector and you just have to hope you have one that supports housing. (not all do!)

This all takes time and money, if you get it ,then hopefully you are not subject to monies for open space affordable homes etc…
This also pushes up the price of houses as all the costs have to be factored in..

Has anyone looked at this policy paper published the day after the general election?

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/2010-to-2015-government-policy-rented-housing-sector/2010-to-2015-government-policy-rented-housing-sector

The section on the private rented sector is interesting. The key parts are as follows:

The private rented sector has grown and improved enormously in recent years and accounts for approximately 16.5% of all households, or nearly 3.8 million homes in England.

The private rented sector offers a flexible form of tenure and meets a wide range of housing needs. It contributes to greater labour market mobility and is increasingly the tenure of choice for young people.

The government wants to see a bigger and better private rented sector and believes that the most effective way to make rents more affordable is to increase the supply of new homes.

The expert Private Rented Sector Taskforce has been established by the government to improve quality and offer a wider choice to tenants living in privately-rented accommodation across the country.

The taskforce brings together developers, housing management bodies and institutional investors to help them provide more housing for private rent and to increase the size of the sector.

The taskforce is headed by Andrew Stanford. Andrew is the Managing Director and founder of Stanford Mallinson, a property and asset management company, and was formerly Head of Cluttons Residential.

Taskforce members that took up post in April 2013 are:
•Julian D’Arcy of Kirkby Capital, a former regional chairman and proprietary partner at Knight Frank
•Joanna Embling, a property consultant and chartered surveyor, specialising in urban redevelopment and a former equity partner at Cushman Wakefield
•Dominic Martin, senior analyst at EC Harris and a qualified surveyor

Has anyone contacted the taskforce members to find out if they have a view on the budget proposals?

This is a Government policy paper on home buying.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/2010-to-2015-government-policy-homebuying/2010-to-2015-government-policy-homebuying

This is an extract from the document:

‘The government is committed to protecting the vulnerable and to trying to reduce the number of homeless people. We recognise that the threat of repossession remains very real for homeowners across the country and we’re committed to ensuring that repossession is always treated as a last resort.’

If it is a policy objective of the Government to try to prevent repossessions and minimise homelessness, why are they bringing forward a tax proposal that will result in these problems in the private rented sector?

Reply to the comment left by “KATHY MILLER” at “19/08/2015 – 21:13“:

Kathy

here is a link to the 2007 report by the National Housing and Planning Advice unit.

http://www.archive.selondonhousing.org/Documents/NHPAU%20Buy%20to%20let%20technical%20report.pdf