Draconian tax changes applying to buy-to-let investors will leave many private landlords with little alternative but to evict tenants and sell properties en masse or simply increase rents for tenants, according to according to Paul Smith, chief executive of Touchstone Education, which runs courses in property investment across the UK.
There are growing concerns that many landlords will simply not be able to cope with the phasing out of mortgage interest relief in the new year when punitive tax hikes introduced by former chancellor George Osborne (pictured) start to have an adverse impact.
Many private landlords have already had to endure the scrapping of the ‘wear and tear’ allowance, launch of the 3% stamp duty surcharge (Land and Buildings transaction Tax in Scotland), not to mention the introduction of stress tests for buy-to-let mortgages.