19th
Feb 2017
It seems that despite the oncoming tax relief and 'wear and tear allowance' changes, landlords are relatively positive about the private rented sector.
Apparently the latest report from a lender claims that 22% of landlords that took part in their survey are still optimistic despite the changes.
The majority of landlords - 65%- however feel less than enamored and are not optimistic, 12% of respondents said that in relation to three months ago they are definitely more pessimistic, however when a similar poll was conducted late last year the figure then stood at 18%.
24% of landlords have increased the monthly rent as a compensation against the forced changes, whilst 21% are keeping their existing properties but have no plans to increase their portfolio, with 16% stared that is more than likely that they will sell some of their housing stock.
The research also found that 13% are looking to buy more properties during April - June which is higher than the 11% in the third quarter of last year.
94% of landlords all stated that there is an ever increasing demand from tenants with just one out of thirty reporting that demand had fallen in their area.
Over the next four years the government is phasing out the present 45% mortgage interest tax relief that can be claimed (the highest rate) and by April 2021 it will be reduced to the basic income tax rate of 20%.
The lender's Private Rented Sector Trends report was taken from interviews with a panel of two hundred landlords.
John Heron, managing director of the lender, said: “We’ve reached a critical time for landlords looking to plan ahead and this is reflected in the Q4 report. It’s clear that landlords’ understanding of the changes has improved and that more landlords are developing a clear strategy to address the impact of the changes.
“However, despite increasing optimism, we must remain cautious. The changes have not started to be implemented yet and the full impact will not be felt for many years. Whilst it is predictable that landlords will seek to increase rents in response to higher costs this clearly will not be good news for tenants, particularly those that are already struggling to save for a deposit.
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