Group wants letting agents to back campaign against buy to let lenders

A group campaigning to secure refunds on alleged mortgage interest over-charging by buy to let lenders is calling on letting agents to support its objectives.

Property 118 has successfully secured £27.5m to be refunded to buy to let investor borrowers as a result of a legal campaign by the Property 118 Action group against West Bromwich Building Society. 

“Between them, just over 300 landlords raised just over £601,000 to take their case all the way to the Court of Appeal” a campaign statement says.

It now wants to get the support of 50,000 buy to let investors paying £10 a month to generate a fighting fund of £6m per year. 

“We are calling upon all letting agents and professional advisers to recommend membership to all of their landlord clients. Many are already benefiting from tax planning and business restructuring strategies discovered and shared amongst Property118 Action Group members, which are now saving them a fortune in tax” says a group statement.

Now the campaign is reported to be in the final stages of preparing for a legal campaign targeting refunds of an estimated £600m “of mortgage interest overcharges made by Bank of Ireland and Skipton Building Society as well as a reversal of legislation increasing tax on landlords with mortgages, many of which will pay more tax on rentals than they receive in profits.”

Both the Bank of Ireland and the Skipton Building Society have stated they believe there are no grounds for claims against them.