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18:34 PM, 3rd August 2015, About 9 years ago 111
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As part of our campaign to reverse the Government’s Budget proposals restricting finance cost relief for individual landlords we are aiming to lobby all MPs in the UK – and as many times as possible.
We are asking that everyone who is against this proposal firstly signs this petition: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/104880
Secondly, and as importantly, we are asking that you write to your MP and preferably follow this up with a visit to your MP’s surgery.
It will be the case for some that you may live in one constituency and have rental houses in other constituencies. Please send emails to all the MPs that are applicable to you.
In order to keep track and make sure we leave no-one out, can you please post in the comments section below the following details:
1. Name of MP contacted via email/letter.
2. Constituency of the MP.
3. Date(s) letters/emails sent.
4. Whether you have spoken to the MP face-to-face and/or made an appointment to see him/her in their surgery.
If you get any response other than an automated reply or acknowledgement, please paste the text in the comments section below, remembering to ensure the full name of the MP and Constituency is included.
Also, later on (bearing in mind MPs’ absences during the summer recess), please also report back on their attitude towards the Budget proposal.
I will be keeping a spreadsheet, to make sure we miss no-one out.
Contacting MPs and persuading them of our case is going to be key to our success in overturning this illogical, unjust and discriminatory proposal. You may be the only person who writes to your MP, so it is very important not to assume someone else will already have done so.
We should especially be looking out for MPs who might be willing to champion our cause as well as those who will be willing to vote against the Finance Bill. If you feel your MP falls into this category, please let us know in the comments section below.
The following is a link to a website with contact details of your MP >>> https://www.writetothem.com/
Below is a sample email/letter to MP’s you may wish to adapt, if you don’t have the time to write one from scratch:
Adjust as necessary, e.g. if you are not a constituent but own property in the constituency, or if you want to add something about the MP’s party’s stance on it etc.
Dear [Name of MP]
I am writing to you as one of your constituents, my address is [ add your address and postcode here]
I am writing with regard to the latest attack on landlords in the Budget, through the proposals to restrict ‘tax relief’ for landlords. Many landlords have been confused about the terminology “tax relief”, so many still don’t realise the effects this would have on their businesses and on the wider economy.
Aafter seeking clarification from HMRC, I have realised that what is really being proposed is that the cost of interest, which is our biggest cost in running our businesses, has been re-defined as ‘income,’ which can be taxed. Obviously, this makes no sense, and this is the verdict of the chief economists who reported to the Treasury Select Committee on the Summer Budget.
If this is to be a new principle of taxation, why aren’t all businesses in the UK facing this bizarre proposal?
Buy-to-let is not a simple, ‘hands-off investment’ as it is sometimes portrayed; it is a very labour-intensive business, often very stressful and for many of us constitutes a full-time job, whereby we work and are on call 7 days a week, including evenings.
Unfortunately, the failure to understand our business (ignorance, by another word), has led to the Government announcing this illogical and unjust proposal.
I am hoping you can use your influence and your vote to help quash this measure.
You will find more details of the proposal on this link to the Property118 landlords forum – LINK >>> http://www.property118.com/?p=76936
The information there will help you to be fully informed, but if you have any questions please let me know and I will endeavour to answer them.
I will be coming to meet you soon at one of your surgeries to discuss this in person.
Yours sincerely
[add your name here]
YOUR Money, YOUR future, YOUR choice.
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Mark Alexander - Founder of Property118
22:00 PM, 8th September 2015, About 9 years ago
Reply to the comment left by "Scott Elliott" at "08/09/2015 - 21:52":
Yes I've just received it too.
Hopefully 10,000 landlords won't email their copy to me this time! LOL
.
Nitzan
22:18 PM, 8th September 2015, About 9 years ago
Reply to the comment left by "Mark Alexander" at "08/09/2015 - 22:00":
I'm sure, Mark, that you'll let us have your guidance as to how to write to the committee.
Once I have the template, I'll be happy to email it on.
Nitzan
18:37 PM, 9th September 2015, About 9 years ago
So, here's the reply I got from the MP. Conveniently avoiding most of the points I made.
Do I continue to correspond with him or do I leave it at that?
Dear Ms Marinov,
Thank you very much for your further e-mail.
I do appreciate your frustrations that landlords are not being treated the same as individuals who rent their own home. You are right that successive Governments of all colours have struggled to build sufficient houses, which is part of the problem. However the expansion of buy to let mortgages in the housing market and the ease at which they can be secured is also a contributing factor.
You are nonetheless right in the Conservatives determination to build more homes. As I hope you are aware, it is not quite as simple as ‘build more homes’, as the Government does not build homes – it is private home building companies that build homes. The Government can, nonetheless, put policies in place to help encourage home building.
The Government's large sites infrastructure programme is already accelerating house building across the country and will unlock the construction of over 200,000 by 2020. Ministers have also introduced the £1.8 billion Get Britain Building, Growing Places and Local Infrastructure Fund schemes, which are unlocking stalled housing sites. On top of this, enough formerly-used surplus public sector land has been identified to deliver an extra 250,000 new homes.
Since 2010, over 260,000 new affordable homes have been delivered. The Government has also announced that £38 billion of public and private investment will be made available over the next 5 years to deliver 275,000 extra affordable homes - the fastest rate of delivery for 20 years.
In addition, local authorities have received over £3.4 billion through the New Homes Bonus, helping to deliver over 700,000 homes since 2011. These funds have also helped to reduce the number of empty homes, which have fallen by 100,000 since the end of 2009.
All of this means that housing supply is now at its highest level since the end of the housing boom in 2008 and empty homes are at a 10-year low. There are now nearly 800,000 more homes in England than in 2009 and the number of first time buyers is at its highest level since 2007 and rising.
I also believe it is right that home owning should be encouraged where possible as I also believe it encourages self-sufficiency for the family that owns their own home. This is why homeowners who have their home as their only property are exempt from certain taxes. Extending these tax exemptions to private landlords would equally cause a severe budget deficit with no identifiable way of balancing the budget.
Thank you nonetheless for writing to me with your further thoughts on this issue.
Yours sincerely,
Stewart
Stewart Jackson MP
A strong and independent voice for Peterborough
Big Blue
19:04 PM, 9th September 2015, About 9 years ago
Reply to the comment left by "Nitzan Marinov" at "09/09/2015 - 18:37":
We can only hope there are other MPs with a more enlightened attitude to the problem. I've managed to get my MP to meet with the NLA on Friday, so I'm pretty sure he'll be left with a full understanding of the issue!
Dr Rosalind Beck
21:18 PM, 9th September 2015, About 9 years ago
Reply to the comment left by "Nitzan Marinov" at "09/09/2015 - 18:37":
According to my understanding, Nitzan, it is the fact that over the years owner-occupiers have not had to pay the kind of taxes they do in other countries that has led to house price inflation, and that it is in fact owner-occupiers pricing out first time buyers. The effect of BTL on a 150% price rise over an extended period (I'd have to look up the years as I forget), was 7% - i.e. without BTL landlords, the price rise would have been 143% instead of 150%. As Mark has pointed out, many owner-occupiers see their homes as investments and are also more emotional about purchases and so are more likely to be willing to pay more for them. It is wealthy people who do this, not BTL landlords who have to make the sums work.
I probably have less equity in my portfolio of properties in South Wales than many people who own one home outright in London. Nothing I have done has led to those prices increasing. Also, BTL landlords are more likely to negotiate a price down.
The evidence does not support the idea that landlords affect house prices in this way. In the Government response to the petition they changed their terminology and say landlords 'may' have an advantage over FTBs... So they massively attack one sector of housing providers in the country on the basis that they 'may' have this effect or advantage (and in fact we can disprove this and have the economic experts on our side).
In addition, his smug comments which seem to imply private landlords are not needed any more, because they have these big building projects planned (and even with his figures they will fall far short of building what is needed_) are very dodgy - because of the possible conflicts of interest if Conservative MPs are in any way linked to these companies - including, for example, if they donate money to the Conservative party coffers.
Dr Rosalind Beck
21:21 PM, 9th September 2015, About 9 years ago
Reply to the comment left by "James Fraser" at "09/09/2015 - 19:04":
Well done for organising that James. I have high hopes of your MP. Maybe you can find out if he would be able to take a more active role in support of us and maybe even table an amendment along the lines of it only applying to new purchases? The NLA or RLA should be able to help him with that. We need people in Parliament to champion our cause. He could make a name for himself. I have been noticing that some Conservative MPs feel able to speak out about individual parts of the Finance Bill that they disagree with...
Big Blue
22:41 PM, 9th September 2015, About 9 years ago
Reply to the comment left by "Ros ." at "09/09/2015 - 21:21":
I'll put that to him - I have reasonable access to him and he styles himself as a bit of a maverick who has rebelled on other things before so I do believe he'll at least put the other side of the argument when he can.
Dr Rosalind Beck
23:35 PM, 9th September 2015, About 9 years ago
Reply to the comment left by "James Fraser" at "09/09/2015 - 22:41":
Excellent!
Big Blue
13:31 PM, 11th September 2015, About 9 years ago
Reply to the comment left by "Ros ." at "09/09/2015 - 23:35":
So here's a funny thing.
I notice on the lunchtime BBC news that central government are putting out a call to private landlords to help them find accomodation for the predicted number of Syrian refugees expected to arrive here imminently, and - somewhat ironically I think - over the next four years.
Are they really not planning on recognising the service we can provide? Are we really to continue being portrayed like some sort of Disney villain, rolling in money and laughing menacingly at everyone else's misfortune? Can they really continue to try to force us out of business whilst at the same time begging us for help?!
You really couldn't make this up, could you?!?!
Nitzan
17:46 PM, 11th September 2015, About 9 years ago
Reply to the comment left by "James Fraser" at "11/09/2015 - 13:31":
Here is a link that discusses the above:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-34224028