Landlord Voice Magazine February 2016 - Leeds | Page 6

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6 | LandlordVoice | February 2016

STAMP DUTY
PLANS LABELLED OVERKILL

T

he Council of Mortgage
Lenders (CML) has urged
Westminster to alter
plans for an increase to 3
per cent stamp duty with a
warning that the move could
worsen the UK housing crisis.

In its response to a HM
Treasury consultation on the
proposals CML argues that
the Government’s planned
tax relief changes will cause
significant slowdown of
private landlord investment
and the stamp duty hike
would mean overkill.

CML also points out
that increased stamp duty
could force landlords to put

“Our
longstanding
view is that
stamp duty is
a blunt policy
lever”
rents up, making it harder for
tenants to save a mortgage
deposit and get on the
housing ladder.

Paul Smee, CML
director general, said: “Our
longstanding view is that
stamp duty is a blunt policy
lever. Given the complexity of

the proposals, we also suspect
that in practical terms the
surcharge could cause more
problems than it solves.

“If the surcharge
proposal is designed to
promote home ownership,
we think that there should be
better evidence as to why this
requires a reversal of growth
in the private rented sector.”

And so, with a widening
gap in housing and potentially
soaring rents as landlords
prepare for the Finance Act’s
impact perhaps it’s time for
the Government to consider
a back-up plan to limit the
further damage it will cause.
February 2016 | LandlordVoice | 7