House Sales Tumble In July After Stamp Duty Holiday Deadline

House sales tumbled by almost two-thirds in July after tens of thousands of homebuyers rushed to complete their purchases in order to beat the end-of-June stamp duty holiday deadline. Following a record surge in activity in June, when 213,370 UK homes changed hands, transactions slumped 62% to 82,110 in July according to official data, after the government scaled back its tax break for buyers in England and Northern Ireland. HM Revenue and Customs – which published the new data – said it showed that homebuyers were “completing property transactions earlier to take advantage of government housing market policies”. HMRC also said that following the changes to the rules, “an expected but noticeable decrease [in sales] has been observed”. Read more on the Guardian website.

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2021/aug/24/uk-house-sales-stamp-duty-holiday-deadline-tax-break

'Mad Rush' To Buy Homes Faded In April

The "mad rush" to buy properties to take advantage of stamp duty holidays waned in April, official figures suggest. Transactions fell by 36% compared with the record level of UK home sales in March, according to HM Revenue and Customs. An extension to the deadline for stamp duty relief into the summer is likely to have been behind the fall. However, analysts expect interest and prices to remain high. Read more on the BBC website.

'Mad rush' to buy homes faded in April - BBC News

HMRC Investigation Into Airbnb Landlords May Be Last Straw For Short-Term Letting Growth

The upcoming investigation by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) into Airbnb landlords could result in a significant exodus of landlords from the short term letting sector, property management firm Apropos has warned. Airbnb has passed on the financial transactions of 225,000 people who rent out homes and rooms through its site, which could potentially result in landlords having to pay substantial bills, particularly those who operated multiple properties using the site. This investigation by HMRC into the income earned by these property owners between 2017-2018 and 2018-2019 means that many more landlords will feel that the short-term letting market is not for them. Read more on the Property Wire website.

https://www.propertywire.com/news/house-builder-progresses-works-on-new-15m-housing-development-in-west-oxfordshire/ 

Housing Transactions Enjoy July Bounce

Residential housing transactions rose significantly in July, shows new HMRC data.It counts 70,710 transactions made in July on a seasonally adjusted basis. This is a 14.5 per cent rise on June and 27.4 per cent down on July 2019’s number. Non-residential transactions came in at 8,380, a 27.6 per cent improvement on June but 18.3 per cent lower than seen in July 2019. HMRC puts this rise down to pent-up demand, saying that the residential Stamp Duty holiday will likely not show up in transactional data “until late August or early September.” Read more on the Mortgage Strategy website.

https://www.mortgagestrategy.co.uk/news/housing-transactions-enjoy-june-bounce-hmrc/

'Seismic' Tax Change To Hit BTL Landlords

Financial penalties due to ‘seismic’ changes to Capital Gains Tax (CGT) payment rules could heavily impact people selling buy-to-let properties. From April 6, anyone who disposes of a residential property giving rise to a capital gain on which CGT is payable will be required to make a digital return to HMRC and to pay an estimate of the CGT due within 30 days from the sale completing. People will also no longer be able to benefit from a possibly substantial sum of money remaining in their hands for up to 22 months after residential property disposal. Read more on the Property Reporter website.

https://www.propertyreporter.co.uk/landlords/seismic-tax-change-to-hit-btl-landlords.html

Renters Quizzed In Relation To Landlords’ Tax Affairs

A HMRC ‘fact finding letter’ suggests tenants may have to take tax off their own rental payments to ensure the correct tax is paid if their landlord is not resident in the UK – and is not registered under the UK’s Non-resident Landlord Scheme (NRL) – or face a fine. The HMRC letters come with a form which asks the tenants for information about the property, such as whether it is owned by a trust and, if so, the date it was acquired by a trust, and details about the trustees, settlors and beneficiaries. Read more on 24housing.

https://www.24housing.co.uk/news/renters-quizzed-in-relation-to-their-landlords-tax-affairs/

Huge Drop In Transactions As Year Gets Under Way

There has been a huge drop in transactions in the first quarter of this year, while the  number of first-time buyers using Stamp Duty relief has fallen for the first time since the perk was launched, analysis reveals. There were 46,800 46,800 first-time buyer transactions using the relief in the first quarter of 2019, down from 60,800 at the end of 2018 and the lowest since the scheme was unveiled in November 2017. The research by London Central Portfolio (LCP), also found Stamp Duty receipts and liable transactions are lower than initially revealed earlier this week once Welsh figures – which are no longer included in the data by HMRC – are added back in. Read more on the Property Industry Eye website.

https://www.propertyindustryeye.com/huge-drop-in-transactions-as-year-gets-under-way/

Over 200,000 Borrowers Aided By HTB So Far

Since the launch of Help to Buy in December 2015, 218,371 property completions have been supported by the scheme, according to data collected by HMRC. The data also shows that 286,604 bonuses have been paid through the HTB since its start to December 2018, equating to £258m. The average value of a property purchased through the scheme is £173,627, while the average first-time buyer property is £194,237, and the national average house price is £230,776, according to HMRC. Furthermore, on average the age of an FTB in the HTB scheme is 27, compared to the average age of an FTB which is 30. Read more on the Mortgage Strategy website.

https://www.mortgagestrategy.co.uk/over-200000-borrowers-aided-by-htb-so-far-hmrc/

Property Sales Unchanged Year On Year

Residential property sales in the UK increased by 1.3% between December 2017 and January 2018 and were 0.1% lower compared with the same month last year, the latest official figures show. There were 102,610 residential sales and 10,780 non-residential transactions, according to the data published by HMRC, unchanged from a year ago and rising only marginally on a monthly basis. Overall sales have been stagnant and experts believe it is a sign that there is just not enough properties and the limited housing supply is acting as a roadblock. Read more on the Property Wire website.

https://www.propertywire.com/news/uk/uk-property-sales-unchanged-year-year-marginally-monthly-basis/

House Sales Show 40% Drop Over Year From March 2016

House sales were down by 40% year-on-year in March, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) figures show. The plunge compared with a year earlier is likely to be due to a stamp duty hike for people buying second homes, including buy-to-let investors, which was imposed on April 1 2016. Estate agents reported seeing a rush of landlords snapping up properties last year before the deadline, prompting a spike in sales. HMRC's report said home sales figures for March 2016 had been "unusually high". It also said non-tax changes, such as the EU referendum last summer, may also have caused changes in the property market. Read more on the Belfast Telegraph website.

Confidence In UK Housing Market Remains Strong

The UK housing market remains remarkably solid, as reflected by the 4.9% increase in the volume of residential property transactions between December 2016 and January 2017, according to the latest HMRC data. The seasonally adjusted figure for the month is 0.3% higher compared with the corresponding month last year. The increase between December and January marks the fourth consecutive month of increases, and shows a pick-up from the 0.2% rise seen between November and December 2016. Read more on the Property Investor Today website.

Housing: Prices – Parliamentary Written Answer

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will make an assessment of recent trends in buy-to-let cost rises; and what steps his Department is taking to mitigate against any adverse effect from significant changes in property prices.

Gavin Barwell: HMRC’s analysis shows that only 1 in 5 landlords will be affected by the tax changes on property finance costs (such as mortgage interest or interest on loans to buy furnishings). The Government does not expect this to have a large impact on house prices or rent levels due to the small overall proportion of the housing market affected. The Office of Budget Responsibility also expects any impact to be small.

Housing Market Remains Remarkably Resilient

Home sales in the UK increased in December compared with the previous month, but were significantly lower than 12 months earlier, according to the latest official figures. Seasonally adjusted sales rose by 0.2% between November and December 2016 but this was 8.5% lower compared than the corresponding month in 2015, HMRC data shows. But despite the annual fall in property transactions the pickup in the volume of homes changing hands last month was described as “encouraging” because it shows that the housing market was “much more resilient than many gave it credit for” amid political and economic uncertainty, which “augurs well for the forthcoming first quarter”. Download the figures from the GovUK website.

Buy-To-Let And Second Homes Made Up A Quarter Of All Property Sales This Summer

A quarter of properties snapped up by buyers in the summer were either as a buy-to-let or a second home. Despite typical stamp duty costs tripling for second home buyers in April, HMRC data shows that 56,100 of 235,000 property purchases in the third quarter included the additional surcharge. This stamp duty hike clawed in an extra £440million for the taxman in the three month period to September. The statistics show in the three months of April, May and June, 30,300 of 207,900 purchases were for second properties, indicating investors had already rushed to beat the 1 April hike. This data indicates that despite the extra costs and the EU referendum decision, appetite for buy-to-let remains robust. Read more on the Daily Mail website.

Council Urges Ministers To Use HMRC For Pay To Stay

Southwark Council has written to ask the Government to use its own tax office to pick up the bureaucracy that Pay to Stay will generate. The policy appears to ask local authorities to stump up the administration of means testing council tenants. Those earning over £40,000 in London will be required to pay more council rent. But a £40,000 household income in London is the equivalent of a couple earning the minimum wage and working full time and the council values working households as they help create vibrant and sustainable communities. The immense extra administration that authorities could be required to undertake would be costly, time consuming and in direct contradiction to the Government’s own guidance in the New Burdens Doctrine. Read more on the Southwark Council website.

HMRC Figures Show Effect Of Stamp Duty Changes

Residential property transactions increased by 1.5% between April and May 2016, but were 11.9% lower compared to the same month last year, according to the latest seasonally adjusted figures from HMRC. “The large increase in transactions for March 2016 followed by the substantial reduction in April is likely to be associated with the introduction of the higher rates on additional properties in April 2016. However, whilst April and May 2016 are lower than the corresponding months in 2015, it should be noted that the total for March to May 2016 is still substantially higher than the corresponding period last year,” according to the HMRC’s latest statistical release. Read more on the Housing Excellence website.

Residential Property Transactions Slumped 45% in a Quarter

Residential property transactions slumped 45% between March and April this year, according to the latest figures from HMRC. A surge in buy-to-let purchases in March to beat the April deadline for the higher stamp duty charged on additional properties was cited as a chief cause of the fall in transactions, but some industry commentators suggested uncertainty over the outcome of next month’s EU referendum was dampening the market. In April 2016 there were 84,280 residential property transactions, according to HMRC. This seasonally adjusted estimate is 45.2% lower than March 2016. Furthermore, April ‘s figure is 14.5% lower compared with the same month last year. Read more on the Housing Excellence website.

ALMOs call for Pay to Stay data access

Arm’s-length management organisations (ALMOs) are calling for changes to enable them to access tenants’ income data in order to ensure correct rent-setting under Pay to Stay. This relies on providers being given access to HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) data to determine the income of their tenants as their circumstances change, so they can ensure they are charged the correct rent. However, under the Housing and Planning Bill, housing associations, councils and other public bodies will be granted access to the HMRC data, but ALMOs won’t be. Under the current wording of the bill non-registered providers - including most ALMOs - would instead have to request the data through a council, which could slow the process of rent-setting. Read more on Inside Housing.

Tax Rules Helping UK Charities Build Homes Can Also Bring Financial Ruin

Charities are granted a number of VAT exemptions and zero ratings, including zero rating on the construction of new buildings to be used for charitable purposes. Many charities that provide accommodation to vulnerable groups rely on this to make their projects economically viable. But the rules are complicated and open to interpretation. This has caused problems for Caritas Anchor House – a homelessness charity working in one of the country’s most deprived boroughs, Newham, London. This charity is in the process of trying to build “move on” flats for homeless people to transition back into independent living, a service that helps turn around lives and creates considerable savings for the public in the long term. Unfortunately, a decision by HMRC to charge VAT on the full cost of the development, has increased the bill by £1m. Read more on the Guardian website.

HMRC To Share Tenants' Income Details With Landlords

HMRC will share income information with social landlords to help them implement the government’s Pay to Stay rules. The Housing and Planning Bill says that while social landlords will have responsibility for ensuring tenants declare their incomes, HMRC will be given new powers to disclose data in order to allow landlords to verify the information and ensure they are charging the correct rents.  Social landlords will be given the power to require their tenants to declare what their household income is. However, the legislation also empowers HMRC to share information to ensure “declarations of income are correct”. It is not clear if HMRC would share information on individual tenants’ incomes under the legislation. The bill allows information to be shared between HMRC and landlords, via the secretary of state, or a body that would act as a ‘gatekeeper’ for this purpose. Read more on Inside Housing.