Monday 17 May 2010

What the new UK Government means to landlords?


The NLA - National Landlords Association sent out a newsletter on the 14th May asking "What the new government means to landlords?"

They reported that Grant Shapps appointed Housing Minister.The new Housing Minister, Grant Shapps, has a challenge on his hands as he takes over the reins from Labour's John Healey.

Following a flurry of new regulations and proposals in the run up to the election, landlords can be forgiven for hoping that Mr Shapps will take a long hard look at the sector before making any new announcements.

After only a few days in office no new announcements have been made but, based on pre-election pledges, new policies are likely to include:

Provision of home energy improvement funded by a 'green investment bank' and efficiency measures
Scrapping of Home Information Packs (but retaining EPCs)
Changes to the planning system
Reform of Local Housing Allowance
The next subject covered -Capital gains tax concerns
The Government plans to raise CGT according to media reports. Speculation is growing that the 'Emergency Budget' in June will contain potentially damaging Capital Gains Tax (CGT) reform.

Although details are unclear, the coalition pact between the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats states that the government intends to 'tax non-business gains at rates similar or close to those applied to income'. This could mean a return to 40% CGT or even 50% CGT for the highest earners. There is some suggestion that this could be introduced retrospectively to apply to gains achieved since 6 April 2010 (the begining of the current tax year).

The NLA has a News Release on this issue at: http://www.jmlproperty.co.uk/letting_agents.htm#Capital

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