Philip Hammond’s final autumn budget before Brexit has been announced, so what does it mean to most landlords in the UK?
With many things staying the same or not significantly changing such as Entrepreneurs Relief and the Vat Threshold let's have a look at some of the key points that could affect most everyday property entrepreneurs.
Landlords have been stung recently with some rather harsh and in many cases strange changes so there was fair reason for landlords to be concerned, particularly in the private rented sector.
The Good
So let’s start off with some good news for not just landlords but for everyone. The Personal Allowance will increase to £12,500. This means that you don’t pay any tax on the first £12,500 that you earn. When you consider 10 years ago that Personal Allowance was only £6025 this is pretty great news.
More good news, well at least for the higher earners amongst us, the higher rate threshold is increasing from £46,350 to £50,000. This was more than was expected and is particularly useful for landlords who were recently affected by the recent S24 changes.
Great news for SME property developers, the Government will make up to £1bn available to smaller house builders, via specialist and high street lenders. This will be deployed through the British Business Bank’s ENABLE Guarantees programme.
The Bad
Not so good, lettings relief on Capital Gains Tax was previously available if your current or previous main residence was let out. Up to £40,000 per person or £80,000 for a couple, with the new changes this is only applicable in shared accommodation. So much less attractive to most landlords as you would actually have to live with your tenants to receive this benefit.
As well as this currently, if you sell your personal home there is normally no charge to capital gains tax as private residence relief (PRR) applies.
When the relief was introduced it was extended to cover a period of 12 months, from ceasing to occupy to actual sale.
The extension period is currently 18 months however the Chancellor has slashed it to just 9 months.
So overall pretty good news for property investors but here is the bottom line.
The people that make the rules invest in property. So property will always be a good investment. It will always be a good time to buy.
There are many strategies that I and my students are using right now that are giving massive returns. These include HMO’s, Serviced Accommodation, Rent2Rent and Commercial.
Just make sure that you are educated so that you are investing the right way at the right time.
