Buy to let mortgages drop 50%

30 May Buy to let mortgages drop 50%

Recent buy to let lending figures from the Council of Mortgage lenders have shown a 50% slump since George Osborne’s controversial introduction of an additional 3% stamp duty surcharge.   The net effect on an average UK property purchase means that for a property with a value between £125,000 and £250,000 instead of stamp duty at 2% the additional increase means a stamp duty payment of 5%.  For the average house purchase of £184,000 this means an extra £5,520 from April last year.  In addition to the increase in stamp duty for buy to let and second homes, tax relief on mortgage payments is being reduced in stages from 45% to 20% and tougher affordability checks are on the way.  Many feel that ordinary households are being hit, as they try to improve on low savings returns by investing in their future with property.  If the triple whammy of increased stamp duty, lower tax relief and tougher suitability checks is giving you second thoughts in relation to your buy to let portfolio – why not get in touch with Nova and find out about investing alongside our property development team?