Three simple questions needing answers. Do you like them?

This morning I wrote a response to an article by the Landlord Crusader about tax. It was lengthy full of figures and probably the most boring read ever posted.

A like-minded Chartered Accountant was however able to get through it and his comments were food for thought. I think the message may be better and more interestingly conveyed by three simple questions. If you want the detail, read the response in the Landlord Crusader post 29th October.

To the tenant who rented that house for 15 years:
“The home you lived in carried about £190,000 more tax than it would have if you’d owned it, around £1,000 a month, and that tax has to come out of your rent. Does that surprise you? Do you think it’s fair?”

To the landlord who let it:
“You paid about £213,000 in tax on your tenant’s home. Had it been taxed like an owner-occupier’s home, it would have been about £20,000. Do you agree that your tenants need all the help they can get, and that fairer tax would mean better value for them and a more competitive private rented sector?”

To the politicians who made it possible:
“Your own forecaster, the OBR, warns that your latest tax rise could push rents up. Do you accept that taxing landlords this heavily means higher rents for tenants who can least afford them?”

It looks to many of us like the line of least resistance. Taxing owner-occupiers the same way would be political suicide, so landlords take the hit.

And the constant vilification of landlords hides where the cost really lands: on tenants.

It also hides the real reason we’re in this mess. Successive governments have failed to build enough homes.

If you agree please give a like, and of course comment if you wish.

Thank you,

Hugh