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No change in government policy in sight despite successful protest rally
Original Author: Graham Norwood
There appears no change in government policy on changing buy to let tax breaks – at least not yet – despite a successful protest rally held in London yesterday.
Thousands of landlords and others seeking a possible judicial review of George Osborne’s changes to mortgage tax relief for buy to let investors, gathered in central London at a rally organised by Steve Bolton and Chris Cooper, the two landlords mounting the challenge.
“So many landlords are sleepwalking into disaster” Cooper warned the attendees.
Bolton and Cooper say section 24 of the Finance (No. 2) Act 2015 includes the proposed restriction of mortgage interest tax relief at a basic rate, even for higher rate-paying landlords, and regard this as an infringement on buy to let investors’ rights.
The rally yesterday heard that the National Landlords Association would donate £10,000 to support the judicial review if it went ahead.
NLA chief executive Richard Lambert told protestors that “we have yet to see an argument which would convince us to change our mind about the judicial review’s chances of success – but we have to recognise that there is always the possibility that we may be wrong.”
However, despite some signs of backbench Conservative unease at the measures, there is no sign of a government U-turn before any legal challenge.
There is no firm date yet for a decision on whether a judicial review can go ahead: if it gets the green light, it is likely to take place in the late autumn or winter.
