The overwhelming majority of landlords in the UK plans to continue their investments just as usual despite any changes being made to mortgage payment tax relief from early next year.
According to the annual Landlord Voice survey by Simple Landlords, 80% of landlords have no intentions whatsoever to change their current investment plans, despite any fears that Brexit might create a property slowdown.
Only one in ten landlords said they may suspend expanding their portfolio after the Brexit decision., whilst 3% say they want to invest even more and another 3% said they were planning to sell a property.
The survey also revealed that the majority of landlords will not change their investment strategy, regardless of the Government’s plans to cut tax relief on buy-to-let mortgages from April next year.
The new rule will mean that by 2020 landlords will no longer be able to deduct the cost of their mortgage interest from their rental income when calculating rent. Tax will therefore be paid on turnover rather than profit.
About 70% of participants said the reduction of tax relief on buy-to-let mortgages would have no influence on their investment plans.
Some 4% said they’d be investing even more following the changes, whilst 12% said the new tax rules would lead them to plan their next investment before adding more property to their portfolio and 8% said they were going to sell one or more properties.
At the same time, 20% of landlords said they were planning to increase their rents over the next 12 months, indicating that some are simple passing the additional costs onto their tenants. Only 1% of landlords plan on reducing rents over the next year, whilst the remaining 79% intend to keep rents at the same level.
Generally speaking, legal decisions by the Government are a big influencer for landlords. When asked what worries them, 48% named Government legislation, tied with unoccupied periods followed by 39% being worried about tax changes.
While some landlords are adopting a cautious wait and see approach and slowing down their investment, others see opportunity in the changes and the vast majority want to keep or grow their property investment,”
said Jenny Mayes from Simple Landlords Insurance.
“Landlords are reacting in different ways to political changes, but one thing they have in common is that most are refusing to let negativity deter them. With many, re-evaluating their objectives, changing their strategy, moving to limited company ownership or focusing on capital appreciation they are ultimately continuing to invest,” she added.
The survey also showed that most landlords feel confident with investment decisions they’ve made, with nearly 90% intending to still be a landlord in two years’ time.
