A Budget of two halves

Yesterday’s Budget was missing two elements: an increase in Capital Gains Tax and financial support for landlords and tenants facing Covid-driven rent arrears. The first omission will have been met with a collective sigh of relief while the second has generated an angry response from the rental sector.

The National Residential Landlords Association, points out the Government’s admission that private tenants have been hardest hit by the pandemic and is disappointed that it has opted not to help. Without any additional support to allow tenants to clear their arrears there is a very real prospect at worst of pushing people into homelessness and at best of impacting their credit score. If the government is serious about helping Generation Rent become Generation Buy, this is not the right way to go about it says the NRLA.

ARLA Propertymark welcomed yesterday’s extension to furlough until September and that the £20 uplift to Universal Credit will continue for another six months. However, the organisation is concerned that many tenants are very far from being out of the woods. How will tenants avoid future rent arrears and landlords remain incentivised to stay in the rental market, they ask, calling in the press today for “a wider package of measures to help tenants and landlords keep the rent flowing.”

On the plus side, we were pleased to see the Chancellor extend the Stamp Duty holiday and introduce a tapered end to the relief. This will undoubtedly help homeowners racing to complete by the end of March. However, as we pointed out in this blog last week, by not limiting relief only to those already going through the homebuying process, there is a danger of incentivising more people into the market and overloading already hard-pressed conveyancers.

Finally, we welcome the Chancellor’s additional funding for apprenticeships, which is something that is close to our heart at Ringley. We have brought a number of young people into our business and trained them via apprenticeships and we continue to do so on a regular basis. We hope the new incentives announced yesterday will mean more firms in the property sector will follow suit.

04/03/2021
Author : Maryanne Bowring

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