Monday, Jan 18, 2010

From the party of aspiration and social mobility

Your Mortgage: MP hints at buy-to-let tax breaks

"Housing Minister John Healey has highlighted the need for more private rented property in the UK, and indicated his desire to see more Government support for buy-to-let lenders and facilitators. Addressing the Fabian Society he pointed to the fact that fewer Britons are choosing to or able to buy homes, and more are turning to the private rental sector as a result. Healey said: “ It’s not just more rented housing in the public sector that we need, but more privately rented homes too. “I want to expand the number of homes built for private rent and improve the quality and security of the private rented sector. That means supporting new institutions into this market, including through changes to tax support and incentives.”... And the Tories will be worse.

Posted by mark wadsworth @ 05:11 PM (1458 views) Add Comment

14 Comments

1. the number cruncher said...

Mark - I read this and thought this is good

Key points I saw where:

Get more houses built
Increase tenant protection
recognising that property ownership has allowed some to avoid tax on savings

All seem like good Fabian policies.

Monday, January 18, 2010 05:45PM Report Comment
 

2. This comment has been removed as it was found to be in breach of our Blog Policies.

 

3. ontheotherhand said...

My goodness what a complicated nonsense. Scary from the housing minister. Tax perks to renters to even up the goodies homeowners get? Why not just get rid of the tax perk for homeowners, have sensibly priced houses that everyone can afford? As this extra subsidy effectively injects new money into the housing market, house prices would rise along with rents and the net amount paid by renters would be the same, but the UK tax shortfall would get even bigger. This is just another way of nationalising the private mortgage debt in banks - the loss that banks and individuals would have suffered from is being avoided by propping up high prices with a new subsidy paid for by even more UK national debt.
Labour trying to buy a new sector of voters in renters.

Monday, January 18, 2010 05:56PM Report Comment
 

4. paul said...

As second and third homeowners I suppose MPs would do rather well out of such a proposal too.

Oh hang on ...

Monday, January 18, 2010 06:15PM Report Comment
 

5. quiet guy said...

The choice of words is frustratingly vague. The way I read this it could mean almost anything from strengthening rental rights to using public money to subsidise property.

“Changing tenure may not mean changing your home, with options to release and buy back equity and convert from renting to owning with Government help."

Is he talking about selling off Housing Association stock? (Thatcher Mk II)

Monday, January 18, 2010 06:47PM Report Comment
 

6. quiet guy said...

More here:

http://www2.rics.org/AspNetForums/blogs/padefaultaspx/archive/2009/12/10/john-healey-delivers-pbr-speech-at-rics-hq.aspx

Quote: "Mr. Healey also stressed that a more equal status between forms of housing tenure did not mean any hostility to home ownership, and should be combined with finding new ways to support those who wanted to become home-owners too."

Monday, January 18, 2010 06:53PM Report Comment
 

7. Brett said...

This is a great post. I just had one of the ‘Doh!’ moments and ran back to correct my own site before publishing my comment. You see my own comment form did not match what I’m about to advice. I get less comment than you, so never noticed any problem. I’ve changed it now anyway so here goes.

Venture Capital business plan

Monday, January 18, 2010 07:59PM Report Comment
 

8. mander said...

Buy to let would help only if they buy rentable apartments or simply build new property to be rented out but as we all know they are after family homes that helped create a shortage and want to maintain a so called shortage to keep the portofolio inflated.

On the other hand they do not need more tax breaks as they are taxed only for capital gains but they never sale and so there is no tax. Also being considred a business buy to let get the interest on debt deducted but a working family paying the interest on their debt is not deducted from their income which can be a salary or other self-employment income.

More affordable houses to be rented or sold by the builder is the solution in order to have a fully functional housing market...

Monday, January 18, 2010 09:41PM Report Comment
 

9. Enoughalready said...

Brilliant - more people renting means more lovely landlords needed. How disgusting.

Monday, January 18, 2010 09:42PM Report Comment
 

10. Troublehoff said...

Why don't these people just stop messing around providing perks, incentives, subsidies that ultimately are going to paid by the taxpayer? This is just another helping hand for people who have speculated, and lost out.

These people will not be satisfied until the whole system is so convoluted that after means tested benefits, housing benefits, student loan repayments and artificial inflation of the private housing sector that a 1st degree physics graduate end up with a lower standard of living than a 'single' mother and her live-in benefit cheat drug dealing fella...

sigh... where is the incentive anymore?

Monday, January 18, 2010 10:02PM Report Comment
 

11. cynicalsoothsayer said...

Pre-election fluff. Post election economic reality will be more tax, including on landlords.

Monday, January 18, 2010 10:06PM Report Comment
 

12. alan_540 said...

A flagrant attempt to buy the votes of BTL landlords, and by proxy the property obsessed masses.

Monday, January 18, 2010 10:14PM Report Comment
 

13. Chris said...

"Pre-election fluff. Post election economic reality will be more tax, including on landlords."

Tax the landlords! You know who will suffer if they do? The tenants of course. All the rents will go up over night!

Tuesday, January 19, 2010 12:43AM Report Comment
 

14. This comment has been removed as it was found to be in breach of our Blog Policies.

 

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