Tax Break Extension Revives Housing Market Boom

The unexpected extension of a tax break for property purchases in Rishi Sunak’s budget last month has revived a fading boom in housing market activity, a survey shows. The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors said its monthly gauge of house prices - based on the reports of surveyors across the country - rose in March to +59 from +52 in February. Other measures of Britain’s housing market have suggested that activity in the housing market was fading before the planned expiry of a temporary cut to property purchase tax, known as stamp duty, at the end of March. Read more on the Reuters website.

https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-economy-houseprices/tax-break-extension-revives-uk-housing-market-boom-rics-idUSKBN2BU3K4

Landlords With Tenants On Universal Credit Should Get A Tax Break

Landlords who rent to Universal Credit claimants should be given tax breaks, the architect of the controversial benefits system has said. Former work and pensions secretary Iain Duncan Smith, who oversaw the design of the policy, told a conference in London that property barons who let homes to social tenants should pay less tax. Duncan Smith criticised sweeping changes to tax laws that increased the costs of renting a property for thousands of landlords, enacted by the government he was a part of. Read more on the Huffington Post website.

https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/ian-duncan-smith-landlords-universal-credit_uk_5c939aaee4b01b140d3680f4

Treasury Weighs Up Tax Break For Landlords Who Sell To Generation Rent

The chancellor, Philip Hammond, is considering using this month’s budget to introduce a “good landlord” tax break rewarding investors who sell properties to sitting tenants amid a housing crisis that has left 40% of young adults unable to buy a home. The Treasury is weighing up a new Help to Buy proposal whereby landlords would not have to pay capital gains tax when selling up to tenants who had been living in a property for at least three years. The plan has been drawn up by the right-wing thinktank Onward, which suggests the £1.3bn-a-year cost of the policy could be covered by curtailing other tax perks enjoyed by buy-to-let investors. Read more on the Guardian website.

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2018/oct/08/treasury-weighs-up-tax-break-for-landlords-who-sell-to-generation-rent

Buy-To-Let Landlords Denied Tax Break

Buy-to-let landlords have been denied a tax break on their property profits as the Chancellor excluded them from a big capital gains tax cut. George Osborne announced in the Budget that he is significantly cutting the rate of tax paid on capital gains - but not for investors who are selling property - at the same time as he confirmed a stamp duty hike for second homes but gifted homebuyers extra help. Landlords will continue to be stung with a hefty 28 per cent capital gains tax bill when they sell up. Residential property was deliberately excluded from the tax cut that will see investors in other types of asset benefit from the higher rate of capital gains tax being reduced from 28 per cent to 20 per cent, while the basic rate will be reduced from 18 per cent to 10 per cent. Read more on the Daily Mail website.

'We Could Raise Rents If We Lose Tax Breaks,' UK Landlords Warn Osborne

Landlords say they may be forced to hike rents if George Osborne sweeps away lucrative tax breaks. In an open letter to Mr Osborne, the National Landlords Association warned that costs in the private rental sector could rise by up to £2.6billion if mortgage interest payments for the buy-to-let sector are made non-deductible. NLA CEO Richard Lambert said that removing the tax perk would damage the economy, and work against first-time buyers by putting greater pressure on the cost of housing. Mr Lambert wrote: 'It has been suggested that private landlords receive too many "perks" or reliefs which give them an unfair advantage compared to owner-occupiers, but this ignores the fact that letting residential property for profit is a business. No business pays tax on their gross turnover alone so why should landlords be treated any differently?” Read more on the This is Money website.

Landlords Enjoy £14bn Tax Breaks

Landlords enjoyed a record £14bn in tax breaks in 2013, according to figures revealing the expansion of the UK’s buy-to-let market in the aftermath of the financial crisis. Property owners, who can claim tax deductions for a wide range of expenses when they rent out homes, claimed £6.3bn in tax relief against the cost of mortgage interest alone in the 2012-13 financial year. The scale of the tax breaks was revealed by HM Revenue & Customs after a freedom of information request.  The figures reveal that the number of landlords has increased by more than one-third over the past six years: 2.1 million taxpayers declared income from property in the 2012-13 financial year, up from 1.5 million in 2007-08. Read more on the Guardian website.

Ukip Announce Mansion Tax Break for Historic Home Owners

While Labour demand a mansion tax, Ukip have unveiled a mansion tax-break. The UK Independence Party has pledged to cut the tax bills of the owners of listed buildings, in a move that could benefit the party’s biggest donors. Nigel Farage’s party has promised to exempt historic buildings from VAT at 20 per cent on their building work, in a move that could save wealthy owners of historic mansions and castles hundreds of thousands of pounds. It would be replaced with a rate of 5 per cent. Read more on the Daily Telegraph website.

Landlords Need Carrot As Well As Stick

Extra tax breaks should be offered to landlords who sign up for a national accreditation scheme to raise standards in the private rented sector, according to a new report. The report, from the CIH and the Resolution Foundation, says that targeted incentives for landlords would encourage them to improve the maintenance and management of their properties, offering a ‘something for something’ deal. Private landlords currently receive around £7bn of tax allowances a year, including for repairs and maintenance, but there is no incentive to carry out work above the minimum standard – and that standard is not being enforced effectively. Read more on the CIH website.