The government has ‘missed an opportunity’ to stabilise the housing market and improve prospects for would-be homebuyers in today’s Spring Budget.
That’s the verdict of mortgage and property experts following the speech delivered today by Chancellor Jeremy Hunt.
Headline crowd pleasers included a cut to National Insurance, changes to the child benefit system to make it fairer and ISA reforms.
But when it came to property and mortgages there was less for homeowners and those looking to move up, or get onto, the property ladder to get their teeth into.
There were expectations the Chancellor would announce a 99% mortgage scheme, but this proposal had been pulled earlier this week. Meanwhile the long-awaited stamp duty reform many people had been hoping for failed to materialise.
Sam Mitchell, CEO of Purplebricks, said: “The failure to permanently act on stamp duty is a missed opportunity for the government to stabilise the fragile recovery that we’ve seen in the housing market so far in 2024. Jeremy Hunt should’ve acted now or not at all.”
He added “Following the government’s decision to not move forward with the 99% Mortgage Guarantee scheme without a proposed alternative – a terrible move in the middle of a housing crisis – the government should refocus their efforts on the most significant factor in the crisis: lack of housing stock.”
Here are the announcements impacting mortgages and property which the Chancellor announced today.
Tax relief scrapped on furnished holiday lets
Tax relief on furnished holiday lets will be abolished, the Chancellor announced today. The aim of this is to improve the availability of long-term rentals.
This will disadvantage landlords who wanted to diversify into holiday lets, which had more tax advantages than traditional buy-to-let.
Emma Jones, managing director at Whenthebanksaysno.co.uk, speaking via the Newspage agency said: “Holiday let landlords should be considering limited companies for their new holiday let purchases to offset this news on the tax relief being scrapped.
“It’s a shame landlords have been impacted yet again as the last 18 months have been the most challenging for those with longer term lets.
“To impact the rest of their portfolios that may contain holiday lets, which allows them to balance their higher rates across their debt, is another body blow from this Government.”
But, on the other hand, it may also help residential buyers.
Amit Patel, adviser at Trinity Finance, also via the Newspage agency, said: “Aspiring homeowners will welcome this news with open arms. This will put home ownership in reach of more people who live in areas where holiday lets have seen a huge boom since Covid.
“In recent years, many people have been priced out of buying a home in the villages and towns where they have grown up where there has been a high concentration of holiday lets. This is a win for the public, but a blow to property investors.
Multiple dwellings relief abolished
Stamp duty relief for people who purchase more than one property in one transaction has also been scrapped.
This is another change which will negatively impact landlords.
Kate Davies, executive director of the Intermediary Mortgage Lenders Association (IMLA), said it would like to have seen the Chancellor offer more support to the sector by announcing a reduction in the 3% additional Stamp Duty which had been levied on second and subsequent property purchases since 2016.
She added: “An incentive to encourage landlords to invest in more properties and increase supply would have been very welcome.
“Instead, we got the contrary, with the abolition of Multiple Dwellings Relief (MDR). Jeremy Hunt freely admits this relief was aimed at encouraging investment in the Private Rental Sector, and government figures estimate that MDR was worth £730m to investors between 2016 and 2022.
“Scrapping this incentive is a surprising blow, at a time when the sector desperately needs support.”
Capital Gains Tax reduced
Meanwhile, Capital Gains Tax (CGT) the tax which is charged when landlords sell a property, will be reduced from 28% to 24% for higher or additional rate taxpayers selling a residential property.
Davies said: “[This is] little more than a sop to those landlords forced to exit the private rental sector by tough economic conditions and a punitive taxation system. And not even much of a sop, given that the tax-free allowance for CGT is set to decrease from £6,000 to £3,000 in April this year.”
