A recent study has found that 2.3 million UK homeowners aged 55 and over – almost 40% of people in that age bracket – are planning to downsize their home in order to raise money during their retirement. However, if downsizing wasn’t always the plan for … Continued
November 2015 saw Chancellor George Osborne announce a significant rise in the amount of stamp duty for second home and buy-to-let properties. The new level, which came into effect in April this year, is higher than that on residential property by three percentage points. What this means is that buying a second home for £200,000, … Continued
Let’s face it, if you drive past a Waitrose it’s quite likely that you’re passing through a fairly well-to-do middle class area. Whilst other food retailers don’t have quite the same status-affirming presence, a Waitrose gives off an unmistakeable air of ‘middle-class-ness’.
Sales of luxury property in London have seen a considerable slump following Chancellor George Osborne’s sharp increase to stamp duty. Property industry observers have given warnings that the situation is becoming more and more harmful to the property market. Douglas & Gordon, an estate agency with particular expertise when it comes to property in the capital, have seen a drop of almost two thirds in sales of top-end homes in the “prime central” areas of London.
Responding to the HM Treasury consultation on the 3% surcharge on Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) proposals for second properties, the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) urges reform of the implementation plans to mitigate potentially negative impacts on the housing market as a whole.
Chancellor George Osborne landed buy-to-let landlords a shock during the Autumn Statement by announcing a 3% stamp duty surcharge on property purchases from 1st April 2016.
The addition of a 3% extra charge for buy-to-let and second homes on all stamp duty bands above a £40,000 starting level will see some purchases taking on a much larger amount of stamp duty.
According to HM Revenue & Customs’ (HMRC) policy paper, ‘Restricting Financial Cost Relief for Individual Landlords’ it’s not just mortgage interest to which the change in tax relief applies. As well as mortgage interest, finance costs include interest on loans to buy furnishings and fees incurred when taking out or repaying mortgages or loans. The changes do also apply to mortgage arrangement, booking and valuation fees.
International real estate advisor Savills has reported that total transaction volumes in the UK retail warehouse investment market totalled £1.264 billion in the first half of 2015, marking a 28% increase on the £981.95 million transacted in the same period last year.
A major shake-up of the buy-to-let housing market could be about to take place, after the Chancellor announced plans to change mortgage tax relief for landlords. In his Summer Budget speech, the chancellor said that the relief will be cut to 20%, from 40-45%, in an effort to “level the playing field” between buy-to-let landlords and ordinary house buyers.
The Council of Mortgage Lenders’ (CML) latest figures for mortgage lending (May 2015) show that whilst lending levels recovered in May compared to April, they were down compared to a year ago. First-time buyers saw a decline in lending volumes, 13% down, compared to last year, but up slightly (3%) on the previous month, with total May loans estimated to be around £3.4 billion.