Buy-to-let landlords shrug off Osborne’s tax crackdown

Most landlords will remain loyal to buy-to-let despite Chancellor George Osborne's crackdown on tax relief in his recent Budget.

Osborne limited tax relief on buy-to-let mortgage interest payments to basic rate tax, in a move which may cost landlords thousands of pounds a year.

Some analysts suggested buy-to-let would be less attractive as a result but new research from Barclays Mortgages shows that less than one in 10 are planning to sell their property.

And under one in four would even consider the idea of selling up.

The bank's research shows that buy-to-let property owners remain optimistic, with almost seven out of 10 describing the current market as “buoyant”.

Owners in Greater London received the biggest monthly revenues in the first six months of this year, with an average rent of £1,900.

Outside of the capital, buy-to-let owners in Reading, Southampton and Slough also received high monthly rent revenues.

London, Birmingham and Bristol lead the way for the number of buy-to-let properties bought this year from Barclays Mortgages.

Birmingham may benefit from the planned HS2 train line to London, which is set to begin construction in 2017.

Greater London areas such as Slough, which attracts some of the UK’s largest businesses, are continuing to do well, as are popular university towns such as Bristol, Nottingham and Manchester.

Plymouth has seen one of the biggest jumps in buy-to-let properties, shooting from 212 in the Barclays ranking last year, to 16 in 2015.

The city's growing economy and £90 million investment pledge from the Government as part of its support for seaside towns may be the reason behind the growing surge in the rental market, as more businesses flock to the South West.

Andy Gray, Barclays managing director of Mortgages, said: “It’s encouraging to see home owners are still feeling confident about the rental market and view buy-to-let as a valuable way to support their finances.

“Whilst London still leads all things buy-to-let, areas like Plymouth and Peterborough show there are some great value hot spots outside the capital city that are worth investment as the economy grows.”