Buy to let investors and the forthcoming changes to lending criteria has been well document over recent weeks we ourselves at DevDosh Ltd have covered the topic in the latest articles.
Some say that the changes are a way of rebalancing the UK property market and helping first-time buyers.
Is it right to penalize buy to let investors to give first-time property buyers a helping hand?
The private rented sector has seen incredibly good fortunes over the past decade and that looks set to continue and this is a positive for the UK property market.
This has left many young professionals and families unable to afford to buy their own property, they are feeling left out in the cold as they spend too much on rent, at the expense of saving for deposit on a property of their own.
The boom home ownership happened under the Thatcher administration as they looked to build a nation of small share owners and homeowners which succeeded in part, although for over a decade now, home ownership has been in rapid decline.
In the past 10 years, the number of 16-34-year-olds first time buyers has fell from nearly half to a third.
Their parents were 50 per cent more likely to own their own home at age 30.
Home ownership for over-65s has risen in the past 10 years.
Numerous governments have tried to in some way deal with the decline in home ownership by increasing housing developments.
This is was to no avail as the shortage of affordable housing in the UK is at epidemic levels, since 2005 the private rented sector accounted for around 165,000 new homes a year.
The number of owner-occupiers has dropped, with 195,000 more homes purchased for buy to let purposes each year.
Compared with 10 years ago is 1.8m less households owned by people under 44-year-olds who own their own home.
So it is the opinion of some that unless we strangle growth in private rented sector nothing will change.
This is evident in the changes made in the buy to let sector by the government, like scrapping mortgage interest relief (MIRAS), and tax incentives.
Would it not be more favorable to limit the amount of buy to let opportunities rather than punishing those investors that have already made their purchases?
Cut the stamp duty for first time buyers not do away with incentives for current home owners.
Make mortgage payments tax free for first time buyers not increase the tax current landlords pay.
There has to be a fair and ethical way to help first time buyers without that help being at the expense of landlords, is that not exchanging one bad decision for another, robbing Peter to pay Paul, maybe who knows.
All I know after speaking to many landlords is they feel they are being treated unfairly, almost to the point they are being punished for the hard work that got them there in the first place, is there a solution only time will tell.
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