Guy Gittins, the chief executive of Foxtons, London’s largest estate agent, said: “Rather than misplaced stereotypes, we would like to see an environment that encourages new investment into the private rented environment to ensure a fair rental sector for both landlords and tenants, working to try and address the chronic differential between supply and demand.”
Any tax rises in Ms Reeves’s Budget will follow years of higher fees levied on buy-to-let investors.
The crackdown on landlords first kicked off with a three percentage point stamp duty surcharge in 2016, and the removal of tax relief on buy-to-let mortgages, which was phased out in 2017.
Melanie Leech, the chief executive of the British Property Federation, said: “Thousands of people working in the property investment, development and management businesses across the country which are essential to delivering economic growth and homes, and who are wholly or partially rewarded through shares in the business, will be astonished and concerned that the Prime Minister may not regard them as working people.
“Equally, it is disappointing that the Prime Minister appears not to understand there are many people who have worked hard all their lives and invested their pension pots into property, viewing it as secure long-term income for their retirement.”
Nathan Emerson, the chief executive of estate agent trade body Propertymark, added: “Everybody is working in some format. We need aspirational people to help build the economy, to help build new businesses, to take us forward. What you don’t want to be doing is taking away the desire for people to better themselves.”
‘Landlord’s return on investment has plunged to a two-decade low’
Small-scale landlords have faced recent problems after a cut in the tax relief on buy-to-let mortgages coincided with a sharp rise in interest rates.
Mortgage rates for buy-to-let properties have surged, tripling from 2pc to over 6pc between 2022 and 2023. Although they have come down this year, to around 4pc, they still stand at double the prevailing rate, according to Bank of England figures.
