Whilst it might be good news for landlords, it’s terrible news for the housing market as a whole. A recent survey by GoCompare Mortgages has revealed that nearly a third of tenants can’t imagine ever owning their own properties.
The survey, which questioned 2,000 tenants, highlighted that 31% believed that purchasing their own property was out of their reach, blaming rising property prices and the subsequent difficulty in raising a deposit as the main cause of their inability to take the first step onto the housing ladder.
Around a fifth of those surveyed (21%) were nervous about the future as tenants too, believing that the changed to the tax relief on buy-to-let properties will have an impact on the supply of rental properties in their region, making it harder for tenants to secure a property within the private rental sector.
Some expressed concerns that their rent would increase, with 6% noting that their landlords has already, or was planning to, increase their rent following the tax impacts. Whilst the research is not painting a happy picture, the only positive could be that tenants are aware of the tax changes, so may be slightly more understanding of any rental changes – although this might be grasping at straws!
Our research reveals that half of all tenants are in rental accommodation because they can’t afford to buy their own home. It now looks like many have given up all hope of ever owning a home and, for some, the changes to buy-to-let regulations are likely to make renting more expensive. In turn, that makes saving for a mortgage even harder. April saw profound changes to the taxation of buy-to-let properties which will reduce landlords’ profits and our survey suggests that there is a real concern among tenants that to protect their profits, over time some landlords will increase rents while others may sell-up – reducing the stock of available private rented homes.
Matt Sanders of GoCompare Mortgages
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