Levelling Up White Paper – S21 abolished – Landlord register – Decent homes standard

Looks like after over 30 years as a landlord, I'll be selling up as my tenants move out now. This now outweighs the CGT liability.

Just a shame we couldn't value our properties each year and declare the gain annually to take advantage of annual CGT allowances.

Also, didn't anyone ever challenge the retrospective removal of taper relief?

Reply to the comment left by Roanch 21 at 02/02/2022 - 10:52
the feeling of dammed of you do and dammed if you don't. 🙁

Reply to the comment left by psquared at 02/02/2022 - 11:49
"I expect im not alone! So when landlords leave en masse after a move to far who is going to house all these people.

Probably the bug boys but can you imagine what will happen when they have enough dominance of this sector."

Well PSQUARED I think your inadvertent typo is a work of quantum genius. I think that the rental market will polarize: At the top end, the BIG boys with 'lifestyle' apartments in purpose-built additions above the local Waitrose at a price out of reach of most. At the bottom end, the BUG boys letting out illegal fleapits or licencing said fleapits to the council to deal with the increased rental demand.

In the 1980's I worked at a large organization that had to do mass redundancies. They offered a very good package to sod off and I observed that the talented workers were gone barely before the ink had dried - because they had options. The dead weight dug in for all they were worth. The typing pool* was left with just one lovely old lady who couldn't spell, altered the meaning of letters because she thought they could be worded better & de-baited the mouse traps because she didn't want the little creatures harmed.

In a similar manner, the increased legislation will polarize. Landlords with options and decent folk will bow out. Slumlords will lower standards will dig in and since there will be a chronic housing shortage, they'll probably be untouchable.

*Typing pool. If you're young enough to have not heard this expression, in the days before Microsoft Word, people would scribble up their intended letters and hand them in to a room full of typewriters** to be typed up by people whose sole job was typing up letters for the office***

**Typewriters - If you're young enough not to have heard of this expression, a typewriter is a computer without a screen but with a built in printer

***Office if you're the post -Covid generation and your parents have you on the books doing some admin for tax efficiency, an office is where people used to go to work as opposed to working from a home that was probably once an office and changed use under permitted development.

Reply to the comment left by Roanch 21 at 02/02/2022 - 12:20
It has been frozen at current rates for the next year or two I think. Rishi Sunak made an announcement in his last budget, so the current rise in market rents won't impact the local LHA, which is in any case calculated in a most unfair way.

Am I the only person intrigued to learn what Gove's "secure path to ownership" for "renters" (it seems tenant is deemed a pejorative term these days) will be? I look forward to reading the details of his alternative to the time-honoured tradition of going without luxuries and saving hard while working long and hard. Heaven help us if it turns out to be another version of Help to Buy.

Reply to the comment left by Darren Peters at 03/02/2022 - 10:31
I agree entirely with you.

this is the government that likes to be 'seen' to be doing something for the 'common good'.

High on their agenda is a clear demonisation of the PRS where every LL is indeed a baddie that needs to be prosecuted/fined/jailed. Every bit of legislation that follows has to be seen to back up this default position - its a vote winner!

Beneath this is the undercurrent of pushing people to buy for themselves, schemes for them not to rent... are trying to release more houses for rent by trying to get those in rented to move on to buy their own? (no matter what the cost to them? We offer them great schemes...) Not for the individuals benefit - from a gvt perspective this releases more existing homes to rent for those who cannot buy.

Is the real reality that the government already knows the PRS is literally holding its balls? In other words when it comes to it, that legislation that further limits LL's ability to control their own private property will have to be watered down/retracted/amended at the 11th hour?

They know they cannot house everyone as it is - latest figures from the Afghan fiasco show that more than a third of them over her are still in hostels/emergency accommodation. Total bill for emergency accommodation in total is now over £1.2million A DAY! and that's just emergency. What of those on non emergency lists?

As so much 'value' is placed on the housing market and this in turn very closely features in the economy, wealth, investment etc, are they really going to do something that has such a massive knock on effect?

As further deadlines approach as outlined in the white paper I see retractions and U turns happening. Maybe not as brazen as that - termed more as 'further time for complete compliance'. Its happened time and time before - mandatory jabs for NHS staff as a very simple example.

If not, yes there will be a smell of burning gonads.... as those in the PRS currently holding the government balls, drop them rapidly! Bonfire of the Vanities?

Well said Darren. And yes your comments were hitting some memories. Lol

Reply to the comment left by Old Mrs Landlord at 03/02/2022 - 11:30
Thank you Old Mrs, I didn't know LHA was frozen until April 2023 now!!! It still places the Government in difficult position. As rents rise due to inflation / lower supply or whatever LHA tenants will become disconnected from the market, therefore more homeless, overcrowding, more bleating from left wing which seems very powerful at the mo. And if they eventually reconnect LHA rents with reality then there will have to pay a big £ increase.

At least we don't need to debate the legality of the 'No DSS' statement anymore lol. Advertising at market rent will mean they won't apply so it's the Government doing the discriminating.

I recently helped a relative apply for state pension and pension credit. So out of couriosity I put in my income (leaving out my rental income) just to see how I compared. It seems I'd not have to pay council tax, get a winter bonus, get my teeth Fixed for free. In fact I'd have more disposable income left than I do with my rental income, and with none of the headaches of being a landlord. I think maybe I should sell my small portfolio, have lots of fun spending the capital before I get to state pension age -- which is moving further away all the time-- and be more relaxed in my retirement as the state looks after me

Reply to the comment left by Chris Bradley at 04/02/2022 - 10:18
you are not the only one that came to that conclusion!

Just look at the situation in care homes now...you get someone who has not paid a penny into the system sitting right next to someone who has scrimped and saved all their life, not been a state burden whatsoever (more than likely to have actually added value to and created wealth during their lifetime), yet they are having to personally pay for the same care and treatment.