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The Autumn Budget: what landlords need to know

Posted on by prateek

Rishi Sunak’s budget holds little of interest for landlords, but a support scheme is announced for vulnerable tenants

For landlords, the most salient parts of the Autumn Budget were the omissions, rather than Rishi Sunak’s raft of announcements.

There was no mention of Capital Gains Tax, nor was there any review of stamp duty. This may come as a relief to landlords, many of whom had been expecting the Chancellor to announce increased property taxation and red tape.

Prior to the Budget, the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities released details of a support package aimed at low-income earners in rent arrears to help prevent homelessness.

This comes after months of lobbying by ARLA Propertymark and other organisations, who have long called for more financial support to be made available to tenants at risk of eviction as a result of the Covid pandemic.

“The £65m funding for those in rental debt provides some support but the devil is in the detail. Almost four million low-income households are in arrears with their household bills, yet this money will be targeted at those who are most at risk of homelessness, excluding a significant number of others from help.”
ARLA Propertymark

Reside is an award-winning independent letting agent in Bath. Please get in touch if you would like to discuss any aspect of letting or managing your property; we would love to hear from you.

Budget 2021: Key Points For Landlords & Tenants

Posted on by prateek

In this video, Reside’s Toby Martin summarises the main points of interest in the 2021 Budget for landlords and tenants.

These key points include the extension to the stamp duty holiday, the upcoming increase in corporation tax which may affect a very select few landlords, and a question mark over the future of capital gains tax.

Reside is an award-winning independent letting agent in Bath. Please get in touch if you would like to discuss any aspect of letting or managing your property; we would love to hear from you.

Chancellor Urged To Act On Tenant Debt

Posted on by prateek

A coalition of property and housing organisations, including Reside’s regulatory body ARLA Propertymark, have come together to call on Chancellor Rishi Sunak to help private renters pay off COVID-19 rent arrears and help sustain existing tenancies.

Across the nation, at least half a million private renters are in arrears due to the economic impact of COVID-19. The UK Government’s own research shows that ‘private renters report being hardest hit by the pandemic’.

The joint statement issued by Propertymark, NRLA, The Big Issue Ride Out Recession Alliance, Citizens Advice, Joseph Rowntree Foundation, Crisis, Money Advice Trust, Nationwide Building Society, The Mortgage Works, StepChange Debt Charity and Shelter welcomes many of the measures taken to date, but goes on to say that they do not go far enough to adequately protect renters going forward. Without additional support, more renters will lose their homes in the coming months, with the risk of an increase in homelessness.

In order to sustain tenancies wherever possible, these organisations maintain that these two pledges are required in the forthcoming budget:

1. A targeted financial package to help renters pay off arrears built since lockdown measures started in March 2020. This will help to sustain existing tenancies and keep renters in their homes, whilst also ensuring rental debt does not prevent them from finding homes in the future.

2. A welfare system that provides renters with the security of knowing that they can afford their homes. The pandemic has shown how vital this is to providing security at a time of crisis. The Government increased Universal Credit and Housing Benefit because it recognised that the system was not doing enough to support people in the first place, yet it has chosen to freeze Housing Benefit rates again from April and is considering cutting Universal Credit at the same time. It cannot be right that these measures could be pulled away from renters during continued economic uncertainty.

The Chancellor is being urged to take action now to avoid renters being scarred by debts they have no hope of clearing and a wave of people having to leave their homes in the months to come.

At Reside, we have worked with our tenants to keep levels of rent arrears very low, however we recognise that the end of the Job Retention and Self-Employment Income Support schemes will present fresh challenges. Additional support for tenants will be needed to avoid a dramatic drop-off in income, for those who are currently reliant on the furlough scheme and self-employment support grants.

Reside is an award-winning independent letting agent in Bath. Please get in touch if you would like to discuss any aspect of letting or managing your property; we would love to hear from you.