Chancellor Philip Hammond has been slammed by Belvoir for failing to address taxes on buy-to-let landlords imposed by his predecessor George Osborne.
Despite pressure from the property industry, including landlords, housebuilders, as well as estate and letting agents, to reverse some deeply unpopular tax reforms introduced by the previous Chancellor George Osborne, Hammond chose to largely ignore the issues.
The only real good news is the fact that Hammond did not introduce any new property taxes for private landlords in his Budget statement.
But Dorian Gonsalves, chief executive officer of Belvoir Lettings, said he was disappointed there was no action on what he described as “punitive tax changes” introduced by Osborne in the 2015 Budget.
Gonsalves said: “Lack of a deposit and affordability are certainly not the only factors that are driving tenant demand and yet in many ways this Budget seemed almost to put an unhealthy emphasis on homeownership.
“Many young people simply do not want the commitment of a 25-30 year loan.
“Also many young tenants are students, or prefer the flexibility of renting to enable them to work in different locations.”
Hammond revealed government plans to review whether landlords should be offered ‘incentives’ to offer tenants longer tenancy agreements.
But while some buy-to-let investors are supportive of longer-term tenancies, many are disappointed that the Chancellor failed to address calls for tax incentives for landlords.
“We presume a new white paper will be published in the new few months, which will address these measures and demystify the Chancellor’s comments about long-term tenancies,” Gonsalves added.