Buy-to-let clampdown deters investors

New research suggests that the Government's clampdown on buy-to-let is scaring off investors.

Almost one in 10 UK adults say they have given up on their plans to invest in property as a result of April's 3% stamp duty surcharge and next year's cuts to tax relief.

And one in seven existing landlords say they will sell one or more of their buy-to-let properties because of new rules, according to research by investment platform Rplan.co.uk.

From 1 April, the stamp duty on a £250,000 investment property or second home will rise from £2,500 to £10,000, while it will more than double from £10,000 to £22,000 on a £400,000 property. 

Also, from 2017, the tax relief currently allowed on finance costs such as interest payments on mortgages and loans to buy furnishings will be gradually reduced over four years.

Latest figures in the Bank of England’s Credit Conditions Survey revealed a rush to purchase buy-to-let properties before the new tax is introduced.

Stuart Dyer, chief investment officer at Rplan, said: “The British have strong faith in property as an investment and many see it as a means of providing a pension income.

"But the Government clearly has a policy to dis-incentivise buy-to-let and the sharp increase in landlord mortgages revealed by the Bank of England credit survey will probably be a last rush before the gate slams shut.”