Buy To Let sector pessimistic ahead of the Budget

After the series of anti-buy to let measures contained in recent Budgets, it is perhaps unsurprising that a survey of landlords undertaken by an insurance company shows the sector to be wary of Phillip Hammond’s speech tomorrow.

The survey, by Simply Business, finds 77 per cent of respondents believing the 2017 Budget will be another that is unfavourable to the sector.

Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government Sajid Javid has already spoken of the requirement for possible training for letting agents and further accreditation for landlords (possibly including compulsory membership of a redress scheme) with more details to be made known tomorrow. 

It is thought that the standard tenancy contract length may be pushed from the current six months to 12. 

The Simply Business survey - held online on the company’s website - came before the announcements at the weekend about other likely housing-related polices to be confirmed tomorrow.

These include:

- a target of 300,000 new homes a year to meet the current shortfall;

- an inquiry into “housebuilders’ land banking, speculators hoarding land and local authorities blocking development”. This inquiry will report in the spring of 2018;

- construction of new roads to unlock land for housing;

- funding cleaning of polluted industrial sites to make them suitable for immediate housebuilding;

- obliging local councils to free unused public land for housing;

- guaranteeing loans by banks to small and medium-sized housebuilders.