LANDLORD
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November 2024
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THE BUDGET'S BITTER BLOW Landlords and tenants have been dealt a bitter blow by chancellor Rachel Reeves MP with a hike in stamp duty (SDLT) in the budget. The increase for those buying second homes, residential buyto-let properties or companies buying residential property in England and Northern Ireland, went from 3% to 5% and took effect on October 31. While it is designed to discourage those from buying a second home, it could also discourage landlords from expanding their portfolios thus reducing the availability of rental properties and pushing up rents. However, CGT, the tax on profits made from the sale of particular assets including property, will remain the same at 18% and 24% for higher tax rate payers. It means it will be harder for people to buy up housing as an investment but not to sell it and so any rental homes which are put up for sale could help first time buyers get on the housing ladder. The measures were part of £40 billion worth of tax rises on
businesses and the rich which the chancellor said would stabilise the public finances, get the economy growing and rebuild public services.
affordability and profit margins.
However for the private rental sector the rise in SDLT will hit landlords hard and reduce further the supply of muchneeded private rental stock, impacting tenants. Sheldon Bosley Knight’s associate director Nik Kyriacou said: “The new stamp duty surcharge on second homes and buy-to-let investments is bad news for the private rental sector because although this may seem bad news for landlords, it is actually terrible news for tenants. “Raising the rate of SDLT for second homes from 3% to 5% is a large increase, enough to stop investors buying by strangling their
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