A leading charity is proposing that private landlords in the UK should be given more tax incentives to help them provide answers to the country’s current housing crisis.
In what is bound to be seen as good news for holders of landlord insurance policies, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, a leading anti-poverty group have advocated tax breaks for property owners who are considering adding to their rental portfolios. In a report titled “Housing options and solutions for young people in 2020” the foundation estimate that up to 1.5 million young people in the UK who would have normally bought a home, will be forced into renting a home in the next decade. They predict the number of young home owners will drop by 50% in this period and that unless private landlords introduce thousands of new properties into the rental sector, there will be a disastrous housing crisis.
The foundation believe private landlords will respond to the crisis best if the Government introduce incentives that would encourage investors to put their cash into residential property development. Other countries have already had success by giving tax advantages to property owners and the foundation believe that tax breaks and changes to Stamp Duty on land purchases would help in the UK.
David Clapham, lead author of the report, was in no doubt that something must be done quickly, saying “With 1.5 million more young people no longer able to become homeowners by 2020, it’s vital we take the opportunity to make renting work better. To do this we need strong political leadership that is willing to work with both landlords and tenants to make it more affordable and stable for “generation rent”. With vulnerable young people, including families, on the bottom rung of a three-tier private renting system, we need to avoid turning a housing crisis into a homelessness disaster.”