Landlords call for government tax relief u-turn

According to Paragon Mortgages’ latest PRS Trends Report for Q2 2017, 88% of landlords now understand how the changes will impact them. Reversing these changes ranked as the number one action landlords would like the government to take following last month’s general election.

John Heron, managing director, Paragon Mortgages, said: “Having taken active steps in preparing for a difficult period of transition as the tax relief changes continue to be phased in, landlords are now facing up to the challenge ahead.

“Higher tax charges for landlords have combined with a general increase in uncertainty to drive confidence levels down. However, whilst there are signs of lower demand it would appear that property yields are being maintained and that void periods are close to historic lows. This would suggest that despite the negativity around the market that the PRS continues to perform well.”

Rob Bence (pictured), co-founder of The Property Hub, a community of property investors and landlords said: “There’s no denying the tax relief changes have rocked the industry and landlords have had to rethink their strategies – and restructure their portfolios. However, I think it’s worrying if landlords are still holding out hope for a reversal of the changes instead of concentrating on managing them and remaining successful in this new landscape.

“While the government may be prone to u-turns at the moment I don’t think this will be one of them. I think a period of stability is the best we can hope for. Let’s hope landlords are left out of policy changes for some time.”