KPMG: UK tax changes will slow down buy-to-let market
The buy-to-let market will slow down next year due to a series of tax changes, accountancy giant KPMG has said.
The changes, including a three per cent hike to stamp duty on buy-to-let homes, to be introduced in April, will put off buyers.
KPMG‘s Dermot Kallinan said: “It will be interesting to see whether buy-to-let investors opt to keep property portfolios or sell up ahead of the further changes coming in to force.”
“While a number of the tax changes have been highlighted as major revenue raisers for the government, the thinking behind them is also to deter some from investing [in] property, in order to leave more opportunities for owner-occupiers to get onto the housing ladder,” he added.
Research released earlier this month showed chancellor George Osborne’s hike to stamp duty on buy-to-let properties could cost landlords the equivalent of 11 months’ income.
This itself came after the Bank of England highlighted risks “arising from rapid growth in buy-to-let mortgage lending”, after the market for buy-to-let mortgages increased 10 per cent in the first nine months of the year.
The warning from KPMG came after what many in the industry view as an assault, following a series of policies from the government.
First came the removal of mortgage interest relief for landlords on all but the basic rate of income tax, then the extra three per cent on stamp duty, before which have been accused of criminalising landlords for not acting as immigration officers, and the end of many of the schemes put in place to improve the energy efficiency of rental housing.
Source: CityAM – KPMG: UK tax changes will slow down buy-to-let market
