The National Residential Landlords Association has slammed yesterday’s lacklustre Budget as a missed opportunity.

Yesterday’s announcements – like to be the last ones before an election – included confirmation that tax concessions for owners of furnished properties let out as holiday accommodation would end, in a bid to remove the incentive for landlords to offer short-term holiday lets rather than longer-term homes. This will take effect from April 2025.

To great surprise the higher rate of Capital Gains Tax was reduced from 28 to 24 per cent: this is a bid to encourage landlords and second homeowners to sell their properties, making more available for first time buyers. 

However the Chancellor also abolished Multiple Dwellings Relief, although transactions with contracts that were exchanged on or before yesterday – March6 – will continue to benefit from the relief regardless of when they complete, as will any other purchases that are completed before June 1.

But there were no announcements that directly helped first time buyers or encouraged higher volumes of house building.

Ben Beadle, chief executive of the NRLA, says: “The Chancellor has once again ignored calls to revitalise long-term investment in quality rented homes in favour of tinkering at the margins for short-term gain.

“Increasing taxes on holiday lets and cuts to Capital Gains Tax will make no meaningful difference to the supply of long-term rental properties. Meanwhile, those reliant on housing benefits still do not know if their benefits will be frozen from next year or not.

“With an average of 11 tenants chasing every home for private rent, social housing waiting lists at 1.3 million, almost 110,000 households in temporary accommodation and the number of first-time buyers slumping, the Budget needed to tackle the housing crisis once and for all.  What we got was a deafening silence

“This was a missed opportunity to make providing new homes to rent and buy the priority it desperately needs to be.”