Tax (not rental reform) is real reason why landlords quit - claim

May as well ask for a place on the next trip to the moon. Neither two major parties are big landlord fans and to be perceived to be seen giving LLs a " tax" break by rescinding Section 24 is a vote loser.

They will do the opposite and give landlords a harder kicking to show them tenants who’s side they are on

Tax would not be the reason that I quit - it would be the loss of Section 21. I am paying a great deal of tax and it would be nice if it were a lower amount, but the ability to retain control of my property is definitely my top priority.

Picking one reason why we are selling up is akin to picking one reason why the Titanic sank 🚢. They are all reasonable arguments as to why landlords have decided to call it a day 🤷‍♂️🤔💰🎉

Won’t be changing I’m afraid.
This corrupt government have squandered so much money they need to go after any soft target eg landlords.
Plus they want landlords out, and to sell their places to ‘generation rent’ to make the tenants into Tory voters

No don’t agree THE RENTAL REGORM BILL is the real reason above all else.
I agree tax is a massive unfair burden on Private Landlords especially when we are singled out and it don’t apply to others carrying out the very same Business.
It’s so blatant, discriminatory and plain wrong to drive us out of the market for the big boy to take over.
Look around you hundreds of thousands of Flats going up to replace us by people who were never in Business because internet technology destroyed their own Business and looking for alternative so grab ours with unfair competition.
Even a Cabinet member was able to buy 7 Flats in Southampton no Section 24 for him, didn’t declare his interest to Parliament until pressure put on.
That said without Section 21 it’s still not a Business, even if tax was 98% like the pop stars that had to leave in the 1960’s, not viable to purchase a property and hand over all rights to the Occupants.
Of Course you couldn’t care less about the Tenants that clear enough you have driven up their Rents 20 / 30%., you are using them as pawns its corruption and a disgraceful to run Parliament.

Don't forget EPC C. With the energy bill going through Parliament last night this may be about to rear its ugly head again!

Whichever Government are in power over the next years. They are all, unless they change the way they are treating LLs, will have massive and I mean MASSIVE issues coming down the line and it’s well and truly started.
We PRS LLs have been the ones who have kept rental markets alive.
No longer though, we’ve had enough of the constant interference and ever increasing forms of taxation.
Mainstream TV are all realising just what an issue is rolling headlong down the road at them with the housing crisis moving faster and faster.

Government and Councils have not got anywhere near the amount of properties that are needed NOW and in the future.
The amount of families that had a home for them and their children are now being left in single cheap hotel rooms.
Social Housing is nothing but a joke. There is non.
Government and Councils, you either make drastic changes to your draconian treatment of LLs NOW or you suffer the consequences of ever increasing homeless families camping out in the Council Offices demanding to be housed.
It’s not the LLs fault, we looked after our tenants very well.
Simple equation that even the thickest Government or Councils should be able to work out.
PRS LLs selling up = Many Many fewer rental properties = More Accommodation that Gs & Cs need to find for Homeless Families.

No business is 100% hassle free and most businesses are legislated in some way. But also just like other businesses if there isn’t a profit at the end it tends not to be pursued. This ridiculous tax is the sole reason I’m leaving the sector, absolutely no doubt, and in the end I’m pretty certain that’s the case for most .. ultimately we all have our price.

It’s not just tax - for every landlord it comes down to risk vs reward. Taxation has significantly reduced the reward (made it negative in many cases). But you can’t ignore the other side of the equation - rental reform which attacks both sides of this. There will be added costs, and the risk will significantly increase as it becomes very difficult to evict bad tenants. Additionally the courts are going to get so badly clogged up with these cases the time taken to evict will only increase and it’s ludicrously drawn out as it is.

The only thing that will save the sector is when the government realises it needs to attract more landlords and will start to ask - what do we need to do? At that point, reversing the tax changes won’t be enough. And should a competent politician come along that genuinely wants to improve things (it’s difficult to imagine I know) then they may try to reverse some of the renters reform bill but they’ll have the none stop bullying and harassment from the activists to deal with and probably wouldn’t stick the job out anyway.

Dominic, no Business is hassle free and we have had so much hassle we are almost immune.
Which other Business has two sets of rules for people carrying out the very same Business.

Another reason that landlords will quit is that the return from a savings account could well be significantly higher than the rent being received now. There is no hassle and no criminalisation attached to having a savings account.

In the past, the fact that the capital value of properties would increase was a factor in favour of hanging on to rental property. However, with sitting tenants (and that is what we could well have in the future) the capital value will plummet - even money in a savings account, albeit depreciating in value, would be a better bet.

Unfortunately, none of the politicians seem able to identify future issues and plan effectively.in advance! They all seem to adopt the "kneejerk reaction" technique! It's like Peter plugging the (am not allowed to use the water defence he stopped up, begins with a "d" and rhymes with "like" 🙄) with his finger, for goodness' sake...just look at all the national issues ..no, crises...on the news...with absolutely no plans in.place.
The only plan they seem to come up.with is: tax them, fine them, punish them in order to fill their coffers, which,through their ineptidude, seem to resemble sieves!
Landlords and drivers = easy pickings and I absolutely despair about not just our current situation, but the country and future generations in general. Sorry to be such doom and gloom folks!

The main reason that I'm quitting is the abolishment of Section 21. I would never serve a Section 21 on good, rent-paying tenants. Its the ones that don't pay their rent and wreck the property that need to go. Its my property and I decide who lives there.

I am scared to death of the Reform Bill. That's my Nr 1 reason by far. I can pay down my mortgage if I want. But I fear not getting the properties back so I won't even do that...

When I rented my first house the rent didn't cover the interest payments but I accepted this as I was in it for the long run. My biggest issue is the steady increase in CGT. upto the 90s we had taper relief so your gain was only the true gain. Eg buy a £100k property and sell 10 years later for £200 k. Your tax liability was only for the increase over RPI/CPI. So if £100k was now worth £150k due to inflation your tax liability was for £50k. The demise of the CGT allowance has made this worse.

With inflation touching double digits, you could find yourself in the situation that your £200k is worth less than the £100k 10 years ago but still have a £100k tax liability.

Try an extra 6% in Scotland when you buy a second property! Watch what you wish for

Absolutely correct. There is simply no reason to invest in property when you can, on an annual basis, get a better return on a savings account. There's tax to buy, and tax to sell and no rights to offset your business costs. Unless you are in it it for a very long time, where you would now set up a ltd company I guess it's almost pointless. Landlords like me are simply taking our capital out and putting it in banks which is exactly the opposite of what the country needs i.e. capital to be actively deployed to help inspire economic growth. The lack of joined up thinking by government is astounding. It almost feels like inverse politics of envy by those 'who already have and have had for a long time' against those who 'could have' or at least 'could do better' given a level playing field. That or corruption, I just don't know any more, just waiting for the next iteration of the wealth tax debate.

I agree the Tax is my biggest headache followed by Mortgage, my oldest investment property that I purchased back in 2007 has seen the mortgage repayment. My rental income is £525 pcm from a disabled tenant, he has been there for the last 10 years , mortgage now £550pcm so after agents fees, VAT and self assessment tax @ 40%, I am losing in the region of £200 per month. The governments have to realise we are business people, not charities. PS, I have a conscience so the tenant is remaining.

Thanks Jo,
I will look into it, it would be great to cover costs, the rent has slowly increased over the years and luckily as it's a flat repairs have not been to bad. As you point out if he had to move, where would he go and how would it be paid for. Now on a positive note, he was awarded a heating grant about 5 years ago, so the flat now benefits from an air source heat pump, so he is doing his best to keep maintenance low. Unfortunately due to his health he cannot work, I have never enquired how his benefits are paid, but he does not have much disposable benefits.

Jo, So Sorry you had to cope with all this but I’m sure you don’t need my sympathy you are as tough as they come.
It goes to show life throws up more than enough problems for us. I suspect everyone has their own issues from all walks of life. The Government is oblivious to all this and think we are living the high life, so we could do without them hassling us at every opportunity.

Being Self Employed makes you entitled to nothing.
As I found from doing Jury Service on 3 different periods.
A couple were significant cases taking days, anyway I only got about £60. for the lot, one explanation I was given was laughable they said because I was Self employed what I didn’t do because I was at Court I could do it next day. Hello are those people for real obviously if I loose a day the income is lost for that day. I suppose I could have got out of it and not go at all but curiosity got the better of me I wanted to to see how it all worked.

As with any investment, there is a tipping point where it is more profitable to transfer capital from the rental housing sector into more lucrative investments.

The private landlord exodus has begun, be it less than 10% at present, but the sentiment indicates 70% or more landlords will sell should mortgage rates increase and the Reform Bill be enacted in its present form. A simple NS&I account at 6.2% give a good example of an alternative without strings.

This puts the Government, which has frozen housing allowance, in a precarious position of being unable to force the private rental sector into subsidising their social housing programme and leaving their only option of introducing rental capping. Rent capping will, in turn, only increase the exodus of private landlords.

The problem then arises is the legal obligation of Councils to house homelessness that financially they are increasingly unable to do. Homelessness will therefore increase relative to the the decline of PRS as will the Councils costs for abiding by their own strict regulative improvements of housing stock will only exacerbate what is already a dire situation for Mr Gove MP. An MP seen by many as providing multiple faces to housing stakeholders.

Had the government staggered the introduction of their policies over, say ten years, it may not have caused this PRS exodus and impending homelessness and housing chaos.

Yes, of course one can continue to regulate and regulate as per the housing charities wishes but the point comes, if it hasn't already, is landlords will not continue into the future anymore than the companies will buy into green wind farms auctions to make life cheaper for the government! To think that the PRS sector will sell on to other PRS landlords is also wishful thinking.

Just when you think it couldn't get any worse , the hate laws get even more vicious even when they have every demand met by the government it is still not enough for the gangs, what can we expect next well confiscation of our properties while landlords and their children are shipped off to cosy camps where we are concentrated together behind barbed wire fences
I am accepting bets on how many months it will be before the housing charities demand this is done