It may seem a forlorn hope after speculation over imminent tax rises, but the National Residential Landlords Association wants the Chancellor to scrap the stamp duty levy.
The NRLA is co-ordinating a joint letter to Chancellor Rachel Reeves calling for pro-growth taxation measure to encourage investment.
Along with industry players Propertymark, the Large Agents Representation Group (LARG) and Goodlord, the association outlines positive changes to encourage landlords to remain in the sector and continue to invest.
Too often the wish list is the abolition of the 3% stamp duty levy on rental homes if landlords are:
With 115,000 households living in temporary accommodation, the groups says it makes no sense to have so many homes sitting empty long term and offering incentives could encourage investors to buy up those that need significant work to bring them up to standard.
It would also encourage landlords to commit to buying ‘off plan’ or look at options such converting empty commercial buildings into rental homes.
The letter, which has also been sent to Housing Secretary Angela Rayner and Housing Minister Matthew Pennycook, also calls on them to peg Local Housing Allowance to at least the 30th percentile throughout this Parliament.
According to Zoopla, there are now an average of 21 tenants competing for every private rental property, with Rightmove estimating an additional 120,000 rental properties are needed to prevent rents growing exponentially.
The NRLA says the government is looking to the build to rent sector to make up the shortfall of homes – and we stress that while it will be able to deliver someextra homes it cannot address all the challenges facing the private rented sector, not least as it is failing to keep pace with the number of landlords leaving the market already.
Around 1,800 units are completed each month in the build to rent market, but Zoopla sales data suggests that over 5,000 homes for sale each month are former rentals.
And the association adds that against a background of dramatic legislative change in the shape of the Renters’ Rights Bill and new energy efficiency targets, along with economic uncertainty, such changes would be a step in the right direction when it comes to building confidence in the sector and ensuring those that need homes have somewhere to live.
The association has asked for a formal meeting with Reeves to discuss the issue.
This article is taken from Landlord Today