UKALA is urging letting agents to sign a parliamentary petition calling for the Section 24 changes (for buy-to-let landlord taxation) to be scrapped.
Launched by Simon Foster, a Midlands-based landlord, the petition calls on the Government to enable landlords to offset all the running costs against their tax, as they were able to do up until 2015.
Tim Clark, Chairman of UKALA says: “This is merely a reversal to a situation, before 2015, where landlords could offset all the costs of running their business, including mortgage interest. This is perfectly acceptable in any other business. It seems unreasonable to treat landlords differently”.
A recent study* conducted by UKALA among letting agents members revealed that, when asked about the availability of rental stock, 89% of agent respondents saw their landlords reducing portfolios in 2023 (61% slightly, and 28% significantly – by more than 10% of their housing stock). Significantly, not a single agent saw their landlords increasing their portfolios and only 11% forecast no change occurring.
Tim Clark: “The increasing burden on landlords, which has been happening for quite some time, is now starting to have a real impact on the availability of rental stock in the private sector. Our survey results show this quite starkly. A reversal of the section 24 situation could help enormously to encourage landlords not to sell out”
*conducted in late November and early December 2022 among all 1100 letting agent members across England, Scotland and Wales.
About UKALA
The UK Association of Letting Agents (UKALA) is a professional association that supports letting and management agent members to be successful, stay compliant and provide a high-quality service.
The organisation represents the interests of members across the UK, works constructively with various government departments and sits on many committees and policy input bodies.
UKALA membership fees are based on the amount of client money a member business holds. It offers to improve standards through professional development and makes compliance easier by giving automatic membership to both a government-approved Client Money Protection scheme and an Independent Redress Scheme. Membership also offers a range of commercial discounted benefits as well as advice services, publications, newsletters and documents.
UKALA is member-owned and run for the benefit of members. Membership is currently over 1100.
