The Chancellor is set for a new crackdown on buy-to-let mortgages.
While there was speculation last week that this would be within months, the Mail on Sunday said it could be as early as today when the Bank of England releases a report on its preliminary findings into standards of lending.
George Osborne said last week he is “highly likely” to give the Bank of England powers to restrict the availability of buy-to-let mortgages.
Osborne told the Commons Treasury Committee that he is likely to grant a request later this year by the Bank of England’s Financial Policy Committee to have powers over buy-to-let lending.
Osborne told the committee: “The measures I have taken in the last couple of fiscal events – on additional Stamp Duty, on changes to mortgage interest relief – have been done in the knowledge that the Bank of England has concerns about a bubble emerging in the market.”
The new crackdown follows this week’s introduction of a 3% Stamp Duty Land Tax surcharge on the purchase of additional homes.
Comments (8)
George Osborne, a trust fund kid, has no idea why we buy property and offer to rent it out.
The world has changed since Margaret Thatcher was in power.
There are 2 million landlords in the UK, or 3.12% of the entire population.
Young people have many “distractions” that they must have, iPhone, Tablet Computer, Netflix, iTunes etc.
Why would they want to commit to 25 years of penury when your job is not for life? You can have all these life enhancing gadgets and services that all your friends have by renting, not buying your home.
Low investment returns, pensions paying less, citizens making their own provision for their retirement and us all living longer are factors.
The lack of understanding is mind boggling, but an easy financial target.
If Osborne can somehow blame BTL for the immigration crisis and the failings in the NHS then his magic trick will be complete.
Landlord is correct. There is only one agenda . Help the institutions get a slice of the BTL pie. Benbird please tell me that your landlords are not that dumb that they are buying for cash in the hope of capital growth? There really is still a future for investment education if these fools are adopting this as a strategy.
Looks like investing abroad is a possible solution. After all this Government has stuffed rates for savers, pensions funds have been raped by the insurance companies and Government. Both have shown they are not worthy of the public’s trust so moving money overseas seems to be the only option but probably not good for the country many of us love! Certainly labour want to stuff landlords, Conservatives are of a similar but not quite so severe. But the BLUE TAPE is starting to strangle us. Liberals are similar to labour. So where are the many small investors being driven to UKIP or the far right as one option but the voting system has been rigged to make it difficult for them to win.
We are seeing whole portfolios changing hands. Our clients are not selling off the odd property to first time buyers. This is a godsend for overseas investors. Whole portfolios bought for cash with tenants already in situ. This was never about helping first time buyers. It’s about raising more money for government coffers.
We have seen an increase in BTL landlords who are completely undeterred by any changes since most of them are 100% cash and looking to invest for the capital gain in value. The sentiment in our area (south Hertfordshire) amongst Landlords is it is a great time to buy with rents ramping up at almost 7-10% at every 6 month renewal. It is also causing landlords to request shorter term rent periods so they have an earlier chance to implement a rent increase……why don’t the government have advisor who can actually tell them the repercussions….and if they do they should be sacked!
Can’t anyone else see that what the indecisive idiot Osborne has been doing since the Tories were elected, is to hit small landlords at the expense of last corporate (City) ones?
Problem is that, small-time landlords have nowhere else to go when it comes to choosing a government. Labour are natural enemies and the corrupt first-past-the-post system means that 3.9 million people who voted UKIP got ONE (rather wet) MP!
If he (Osborne) removed his head from the dark place it currently is, he might see the huge damage he is about to inflict on the industry and subsequently tenants,who so urgently need rent increases to slow down.