Spending Review 2015 – 3% increase on Stamp Duty for BTL and second homes

Spending Review 2015 – 3% increase on Stamp Duty for BTL and second homes

14:30 PM, 25th November 2015, About 8 years ago 224

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GeorgeThe Chancellor George Osborne in his spending review today announced that he will increase Stamp duty for Buy to Let properties and second homes with a surcharge of 3% from April 2016.

The Chancellor said he wanted to change from generation rent to generation buy. He was concerned that Cash Purchasers and foreign investors, who were not affected by the relief cap of 20% on  mortgage interest, along with Buy to Let investors were squeezing out home buyers. Therefore there will be an increase of 3% in stamp duty for non-main residence purchasers, which would also raise an additional £1bn in tax.

The Housing budget will now be doubled to £2bn per annum and a project to build 400,000 new affordable homes to buy will be started. Osborne said “this government chooses to build.”

These affordable homes will be offered to First Time Buyers at a discount of 20%, and 135,000 new homes will be offered under Help to Buy shared ownership.

A London Help to Buy scheme will offer interest-free loans up to a maximum of 40% of the value of a newly built home.

Restrictions on shared ownership will be removed and the planning system reformed to deliver more homes.

Councils will also receive an additional £10m to help homeless people.

It is the Chancellors clear policy to help solve the housing crises by building more homes and squeezing the competitiveness of the Private Rental Sector thus shifting the balance from renting to home ownership.

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Commercial property investors, with more than 15 properties, are expected to be exempt from the new charges.


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Comments

Tracey Hoad

21:23 PM, 25th November 2015, About 8 years ago

Reply to the comment left by "KATHY MILLER" at "25/11/2015 - 20:52":

What are they planning to do with the responses Kathy. Will this lead to another tax calculation? What are their intentions?

Big Blue

21:53 PM, 25th November 2015, About 8 years ago

Reply to the comment left by "Tracey Hoad" at "25/11/2015 - 21:23":

Hi Tracey.

I think the problem is that we don't know what we're going to do. My plan was to wait and see, as I confidently expected some alterations to prevent this from being so onerous. Now I can see that hasn't happened, I was looking to invest in some suitable tax-saving scheme, and probably to incorporate. Now that I find ltd co developers and landlords are likely to get walloped on SDLT Im trying to work out some other plan... emigration, perhaps?! Or, since the government don't like me being a productive, higher-rate tax payer, I might just sell everything at once, pay the CGT, put the money in my current account and dedicate the rest of my life to buying shares in an ISA, not working at all and ensuring I go out of my way to never again contribute a single penny in income tax or CGT. I quite like the thought of that!

Јім Мспіџєп

21:54 PM, 25th November 2015, About 8 years ago

Reply to the comment left by "John McKay" at "25/11/2015 - 20:45":

Prices dropping fast is good though isn't it? We can buy up all that cheap housing stock and rent it out to all the tenants that we expect are going to be made homeless by this. Or am I missing something?

Tracey Hoad

22:05 PM, 25th November 2015, About 8 years ago

Reply to the comment left by "James Fraser" at "25/11/2015 - 21:53":

James - I don't think wait and see is an option - we can see and feel the disregard. I'm in the process of getting all my properties valued and then I'll do my sums. But I must say that my properties in areas outside London and Brighton have gone down in price. I'm not sure what people are talking about when they say btl landlords have pushed up prices. I wish - but in the meantime it may suit my circumstances right now.

I've discussed the matter with my current lenders. Only one is prepared to lend to a limited company but they want all the property to be transferred in one go. I thought it was unfair at the time but now with the stamp duty increase it looks like a viable option. The others have no plans at the moment - although I would have thought that their compliance team would have put something in place by now. Maybe they don't want to survive this and I wonder if they think the government might look to penalise them if they lend to individual landlords.

I discussed options with Norwich and Peterborough building society and he has advised me to speak to an accountant before I do anything else. But from my discussions with friends it looks like even the accountants aren't sure what smaller landlords should do. I know one thing for sure - it isn't about waiting and seeing - it's about attempting to second guess how the limited companies are going to be taxed in 2021.

Claire Oswald

22:26 PM, 25th November 2015, About 8 years ago

I really don't understand where they are going with this. I thought that Conservatives supported 'capitalism'? Jeez, I feel like Jeremy Corbyn is already in the hot seat.

John McKay

22:35 PM, 25th November 2015, About 8 years ago

Reply to the comment left by "James Fraser" at "25/11/2015 - 20:56":

No misunderstanding Jamie, I'm trying to project the likely or potential outcomes of this move - the bigger picture if you like.

GO says this is going to bring in £1bn (wasn't it?) but frankly I don't think it'll even come close to that.

I don't see any winners here - none! I'm happy for people to shoot me down in flames but just want to understand what is likely to come out of this medium to long term. If we can get to grips with that then we might be able to move forwards, well at least until he moves the goal posts again.

denis knockton

23:44 PM, 25th November 2015, About 8 years ago

Reply to the comment left by "John McKay" at "25/11/2015 - 20:45":

John,

London BTL is for capital growth and you don't do it for yields - the capital growth in certain areas of London has been over 50% over the last 3 years so the yields is a side show. Every market has its own dynamics.

Chris Brown

23:53 PM, 25th November 2015, About 8 years ago

Reply to the comment left by "Neil Patterson" at "25/11/2015 - 14:48":

Surely 'Corporate Development' should be just that, and not include Corporate purchase of existing stock, or even new build by others. The 3% should be levied on a level playing field.

I'd be interested to know the % of new properties put on the rental market by small landlords as opposed to our corporate friends. Is the Duke of Westminster one of them?

Gary Dully

0:25 AM, 26th November 2015, About 8 years ago

So if I sell my 21 properties to my own company - will I pay SDLT or not?
To gain incorporation relief I have to transfer the business in one transaction and prove I spend more than 20 hours a week running my business.
I am quite willing to tick those boxes.

Because if I have to pay SDLT on the lot as one transaction the bill will be horrendous, but if done as separate transfers I could probably get away with only about 3 properties falling into the SDLT range before April and not having to pay SDLT on about 18 of them.

Any suggestions?

Trendo

1:27 AM, 26th November 2015, About 8 years ago

Landlords to be Tax'ed Digitally Online
by 2020, require most businesses, self-employed people and landlords to keep track of their tax affairs digitally and update HMRC at least quarterly via their digital tax account. HMRC will ensure the availability of free apps and software that link securely to HMRC systems and provide support to those who need help using digital technology. This will not apply to individuals in employment or pensioners, unless they have secondary incomes of more than £10,000 per year from self-employment or property. The government will consult on the details in 2016

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