Soz, Osborne: Buy to let stamp duty changes aren’t putting many potential landlords off
The best laid plans, and all that.
It seems George Osborne's attempts to put potential landlords off sinking their cash into buy-to-let properties may not be having quite the desired effect – after new research suggested not many have given up on their plans to buy rental properties.
The research, by the Nottingham Building Society, found one in seven would-be landlords have cancelled their plans to buy rental homes thanks to changes coming into force later this week, which will add three per cent to stamp duty on buy to let homes.
Meanwhile, nearly 80 per cent of those questioned said they'd still consider investing in property as part of their retirement savings.
One in seven looking to give up is actually a pretty conservative figure by comparison: research published yesterday by the National Association of Estate Agents suggested potential buy to let landlords were rushing to buy homes in an effort to beat Friday's deadline.
Some 85 per cent of estate agents said they saw a jump in the number of buy to let investors planning on buying properties in February, with an average of 463 house hunters registered per branch – the highest figure since August 2004.
Presumably, the frenzy will die down after Friday, when the stamp duty hike comes into force. If that wasn't enough to put off landlords, perhaps yesterday's suggestion, by the Prudential Regulation Authority, that lenders will need to meet a minimum set of requirements before underwriting buy-to-let mortgage contracts, will be.
The new rules will mean banks will need to take into consideration the borrower's ability to cover costs associated with letting out their property, such as tax liabilities, as well as their non-rental incomes and whether they'd be able to cope with future interest rate rises. Oof.