Mortgage & Protection Blog

  • Home /
  • Mortgage & Protection Blog

A Government that prioritises owner occupiers at the expense of the PRS

Bob Hunt

Bob Hunt

4 April 2024
The end of year forecasts for the buy-to-let market in 2024 made difficult reading, particularly when it came to purchase lending activity, which both UK Finance and IMLA said would be lower this year than last.

Personally, I believe those predictions are somewhat pessimistic view but I have sympathy with their outlook, especially when you consider the obstacles that are in place for landlords, and the clear direction of travel taken by numerous Governments over the last 15 or so years which have prioritised first-time buyers and owner-occupation at the expense of the private rental sector (PRS). 

A policy which you might well argue has merely exacerbated a large number of problems which continue to impact tenants, landlords, or indeed the aspirations of those who would like to buy, but who find a market low on supply, and high on demand. 

Before the Budget there were some mutterings that this Government was willing to turn a corner.

Jeremy Hunt is a landlord after all, but when the Budget was announced, it appeared instead of rowing back on those anti-landlord policies, it had double-downed on them. 

Take, for instance, the decision in the Budget to cut higher rate Capital Gains Tax (CGT) on the sale of residential properties, which it explicitly states is designed to move property out of the PRS and into the hands of first-time buyers. 

How this is deemed to be solving the problem of helping more first-time buyers into their own homes, or indeed tackling high rent levels for tenants, or ensuring there are enough properties for those who wish/have to rent or want to buy, is somewhat beyond me. 

Does the Government believe vast swathes of landlords have, up until now, been put off from selling their properties just because higher rate CGT was at 28%?

What would that saving generally be anyway now it has been dropped to 24%? A few thousands pounds? Have large numbers of landlords been waiting to sell until they got that CGT cut?

Of course not. The long-term investment horizon for most landlords makes this policy utterly irrelevant and while there will be the odd landlord who benefits financially from such a cut, they would probably have been selling up anyway, and I suspect in the vast majority of sales, it will not be first-time buyers moving into those properties, but instead that supply is much more likely to stay within the PRS.

What does this achieve overall? Very little. It certainly doesn’t boost supply in the PRS, and given that recent ONS data revealed UK private rents are at their highest on record, the demand/supply imbalance is still creating the environment for higher rents, which in turn make it more difficult for tenants to save for deposits, plus of course, they have to be able to access property to buy in the first place.

Instead of focusing on policies that boost supply for tenants and first-time buyers, the Government continues to adopt a ‘take from Peter, give to Paul’ approach, which ultimately undermines the ability of Peter to secure a PRS property at a decent rent, and Paul to move out of the PRS and into their first home.

Both Peter and Paul suffer because it is felt that you have to punish those landlords who are trying to provide property for Peter to move into, and Paul to move on from.

Of course, none of this is new really, it’s just that we might have thought we had reached the end for such policies, only for the Chancellor to find some more – abolishing Multiple Dwelling Stamp Duty relief and furnished holiday lets tax allowances being the other two. 

Indeed, for the latter, instead of seeking to understand why landlords have pivoted their properties into, for example, holiday lets in order to try and improve rents to cope with higher mortgage costs and overall property costs, there is an assumption that this is somehow been done out of spite in order to ostracise locals from properties in their area. 

Overall, until we have a Government which understands these markets are all-connected and they will all benefit from increased supply of housing, we’re going to have policies which try to engineer greater levels of supply for homeowners at the expense of homes for tenants.

And, as has been proved, that will only exacerbate the problem rather than fixing it.

28 November 2024

Suppressing landlord activity won’t automatically improve first-time buyer prospects


25 November 2024

The Co-operative Bank for Intermediaries, streamlining processes and expanding product ranges


21 November 2024

Better off dead? The need for critical illness cover


18 November 2024

What the OBR’s five year forecasts mean for the market


25 October 2024

Advisers should rethink their regulatory status to keep up with sector changes


16 October 2024

Your Business Matters


7 October 2024

What may impact BTL and Resi markets in 2025?


1 October 2024

Why Gen Z could be the perfect match for protection


30 September 2024

Self-employed mortgages can be easy, if you choose the right lender


26 September 2024

Lenders and regulators must be careful not to add to adviser disillusion


19 September 2024

There may be trouble ahead…


2 September 2024

Source Go: The Modern Answer to the GI Question


29 August 2024

Pre- and post-mini Budget remortgagors need guidance in transformed market


23 August 2024

Guardian's 2023 claims report: a milestone worth celebrating


14 August 2024

Rate cuts are a positive story for advisers


1 August 2024

The mortgage market is set for a teeming H2


29 July 2024

Aldermore are backing more of your clients to go for it


22 July 2024

YOU SAID, WE DID!


12 July 2024

A surge of optimism for the market


3 July 2024

Consumer Duty one year on – what might happen next?


24 June 2024

How to increase your protection business


17 June 2024

Consumer Duty will mark new era of continuously changing advice


6 June 2024

Mental Health Matters: Workplace Wellbeing


21 May 2024

Advise or refer? Ensuring the best possible outcomes for your clients


15 May 2024

Darlington Criteria Updates


14 May 2024

And The Wait Goes On


10 May 2024

Cap on broker fees sparks industry debate


1 May 2024

Expect the unexpected


15 April 2024

Ready, set, remortgage!


12 April 2024

How the mortgage market is failing new arrivals to the UK


11 April 2024

A compliance refresh will lighten unavoidable market stress


4 April 2024

What is driving the Specialist Residential and Buy-to-Let markets this year?


4 April 2024

A Government that prioritises owner occupiers at the expense of the PRS


28 March 2024

What is your website for?


19 March 2024

Exploring the value of value added benefits


4 March 2024

Artificial intelligence – friend or foe to advisers?


9 February 2024

Trust your own gut when listening to market predictions


8 January 2024

The Name's Bond...


21 December 2023

PTs remain a big part of the marketplace


21 December 2023

Not all wine and roses but outlook is better


15 December 2023

Artificial Intelligence: A vision for the future


12 December 2023

Reflecting on 2023


11 December 2023

Mental Health Matters: Menopause


8 December 2023

Looking ahead: Reasons to be cheerful about the market in 2023


17 November 2023

Why TikTok could be a winning tactic for brokers


30 October 2023

How advisers can improve the quality metrics with insurers


27 October 2023

The Aggregator Market - Friend or Foe?


25 October 2023

Don’t let Charter support remove advice from the mortgage process


3 October 2023

How to strengthen your defences against cyber threats


29 September 2023

White Dragon Communications


8 September 2023

Advisers deserve recognition for keeping borrowers on lender books


8 September 2023

Claims history of an insurance should form core part of assessing true value of insurance and advic


4 August 2023

The blasé attitude towards sudden mortgage withdrawals is not good enough


10 July 2023

The argument for higher proc fees for better quality business is undeniable


22 June 2023

Product withdrawal timescales and how brokers can adapt


1 June 2023

We're not in mini-Budget territory yet!


24 May 2023

Skipton’s 100 per cent mortgage should be replicated, not feared


30 April 2023

Protection And Mortgage Fair Value Assessments – What Is My Actual Responsibility?


6 April 2023

Lenders will compete on mortgage rates, but don’t expect a price war


27 March 2023

Vulnerable Customers and Economic Abuse


10 March 2023

Tell borrowers to stop waiting for mortgage rates to fall


7 March 2023

Mixed messages from Bank of England boss ahead of MPC meeting


6 March 2023

Take the Consumer Duty seriously when it comes to protection


17 February 2023

Mortgage Market Update


10 February 2023

Let’s not be hasty and write off this year’s property purchase appetite


6 February 2023

Implementing Consumer Duty


9 January 2023

Why it’s so important you tell us about your vulnerable customers


5 January 2023

Why advisers are so vital in the mortgage market


Paradigm

THIS SITE IS FOR PROFESSIONAL INTERMEDIARY USE ONLY AND NOT FOR USE BY THE GENERAL PUBLIC.

APCC MemberConsumer Duty Alliance

Paradigm Consulting is a Member of the Association of Professional Compliance Consultants and also the Consumer Duty Alliance.

Paradigm Consulting is a trading name of Paradigm Partners Ltd
Office address: Paradigm Partners Ltd, Paradigm House, Brooke Court, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 3ND
Paradigm Partners Ltd is registered in England and Wales. No.09902499. Registered Office: As above

Paradigm Mortgage Services LLP
Office address: 1310 Solihull Parkway, Birmingham Business Park, Birmingham B37 7YB
Registered in England and Wales. Company No: OC323403. Registered Office: Paradigm House, Brooke Court, Lower Meadow Road, Wilmslow, SK9 3ND
Paradigm Mortgage Services LLP is a Limited Liability Partnership.

Paradigm Protect is a trading name of Paradigm Mortgage Services LLP
Office address: 1310 Solihull Parkway, Birmingham Business Park, Birmingham B37 7YB
Paradigm Mortgage Services LLP is registered in England and Wales. Company No: OC323403. Registered Office: Paradigm House, Brooke Court, Lower Meadow Road, Wilmslow, SK9 3ND
Paradigm Mortgage Services LLP is a Limited Liability Partnership.