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Buy-to-let investors might have to comply with fresh regulations and even obtain a license if they are to lawfully operate as landlords for private residences. The proposals, inside a government review of the private rental sector, would introduce new rules for lettings agents and a “light touch” licensing system for landlords. To offset the extra burden on landlords, changes to stamp duty and capital gains tax could be introduced to encourage them to expand their property portfolios. But tax relief would only apply to ‘good’ landlords – those who view their properties as a business rather than investment and demonstrate so, perhaps by housing the vulnerable. “Poorly performing” landlords, in contrast, will be tackled more severely, with abuse of tenancy agreements, such as bodging repairs, likely to lead to licences being revoked. Other proposals in the review, partly arranged for fears unscrupulous landlords were not actually breaking any rules, include setting up a consumer complaints panel to aid in disputes. Reflecting on the review, penned by boffins at York University, Margaret Beckett MP praised it as “comprehensive and authoritative,” but stopped short of endorsing its proposals. The Housing minister agreed, however, with its authors’ belief that the government must intervene to improve the sector by making it “less risky” for both tenants and landlords alike. Yet much of the review focuses on making life easier for tenants, such as a campaign to promote their rights and a push for private rentals to support more people on low-incomes. Ms Beckett said: “Whilst the majority of people are satisfied with their experience of renting, there is still much more to do to protect the most vulnerable tenants from the minority of unscrupulous landlords.” Last week, a private sector firm took action to make life easier for those landlords struggling to make up the difference between rental income and monthly mortgage repayments. Egerton Partners is reportedly among the first groups to link such landlords with portfolios of between £5 and 30m with wealthy investors willing to put up capital for a stated threshold. Under the agreement, the landlord retains their property, but also has the chance to capitalise if rental yields on the property come to exceed the level contractually allocated to the investor. Oct 27, 2008 Email this article Printer friendly page Previous Page
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