More than half of landlords say they are likely to increase rents to cover the cutting of mortgage interest relief announced in the Summer Budget earlier this month.
George Osborne confirmed that mortgage interest tax relief for purchasers of buy-to-let homes will be restricted to the basic rate of income tax and online letting agent Rentify reports that some 56% of landlords are likely to increase rents as a direct result.
The study also found that 57% of the 500 landlords surveyed feel it is unlikely that they will expand their property portfolio beyond its current size.
In fact, almost a quarter of respondents (23%) said they may plan to sell off some of their current property stock.
“These statistics are a stark reminder that if landlords aren’t incentivised to be landlords then they will just stop buying new-builds,” says George Spencer, CEO of Rentify.
“Whilst landlords get a bad press, the reality is that the government shoots itself in the foot time and time again with housing policy, resulting in more constraints on available stock and ever lower incentives to build new dwellings.”
He adds that the mortgage tax relief cut could ‘irreparably damage’ the quality of living for many of the nation’s tenants.
Last week the Residential Landlords Association reported that over two thirds of landlords and investors are considering raising rents in the wake of the Budget.