A survey of property investors in the buy-to-let marketplace was carried out by the Mortgages for Business website 
just before Christmas. The results confirm our view, based on speaking to our buy-to-let clients, that they are starting to worry about the likely impact of changes come April.
The survey of nearly 300 investors found that 60% of respondents believe that the Government’s forthcoming changes to tax relief will affect their existing properties and a worrying 11% of respondents say they still do not know if they will be affected, despite continued urging from media sources to seek advice.
The proportion of surveyed landlords seeking to expand their portfolios in the next six months was 45% with the proportion seeking to shrink their portfolios just 9%.
Rather predictably, it is the landlords with the largest portfolios who are most likely to seek to offload properties, with 31% of landlords among those with 21 or more properties seeking to sell in the next six months. Similarly, expansion is most popular with landlords possessing two or three properties, being the goal of a whopping 55%. These landlords have shown that they are comfortable managing multiple properties but do not yet possess a large portfolio that would make further expansion difficult, leading to the high appetite seen in these results.
When asked whether they would be buying future properties in their personal or limited company names, 54% of respondents replied that they would make all future purchases via a limited company, while just 15% would continue to purchase entirely in their own names. The survey findings in relation to the use of limited companies for property purchases certainly aligns with our experience of working with property investors.
The full results from the Mortgages for Business survey can be seen here.
If you’d like to talk to one of our property tax experts to see if your business tax arrangements are suitably prepared for the April changes get in touch today. Alternatively you can read more of our blogs on property and tax here.
