There are few areas of the market that seem to attract as much speculation as buy-to-let. Despite the fact that private rental accommodation accounts for more than a fifth of the UK’s total housing stock, the arrival of any new piece of regulation or tax change seems to trigger a wave of commentary hailing the beginning of the end for the investment.
It is true that the tax changes introduced in 2016, which saw a 3% surcharge added to the stamp duty on a buy-to-let purchase and tapering of relief on mortgage interest payments, discouraged a lot of landlords from entering the market or growing their portfolio. In fact, according to research by Hamptons International, landlords have bought 26% fewer properties in the last five years than they would have done had the tax changes not been introduced. Hamptons says that landlords have bought around 700,000 properties since April 2016, which they suggest is 250,000 fewer than they would have if the tax regime had stayed the same.
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