Chancellor Jeremy Hunt is considering a tax raid on holiday let owners, it emerged over the weekend.
A report by The Sunday Times claims that Hunt will raise some £300 million from those offering short-let accommodation to holiday makers via platforms such as Airbnb and Booking.com in order to fund a 2p cut in the basic income tax rate.
This comes on top of an ongoing attempt by the Government to clamp down on holiday let landlords including a looming national registration scheme, requiring new short-lets to gain planning permission and increasing council tax for such properties.
The move would appear to contradict his previous promises to make England a ‘low tax economy’ at least from a property owner’s perspective.
“[Tax cuts] are my priority for the country. When it comes to this budget, I will only bring down taxes in a way that is responsible, and sustainable,” he said during a radio interview on Sunday.
“The Chancellor is to reveal his full package of spending and taxation measures during Wednesday’s budget.
Responding to the reports of a tax raid on short-lets landlords in holiday hotspots such as SW seaside villages and the Lake District, the NRLA’s Chief Executive Ben Beadle says: “The Chancellor needs to address the chronic shortage of long-term rentals by attracting new landlords to the market.
“Squeezing holiday lets is not the answer. He should follow the advice of the Institute for Fiscal Studies and reverse punitive tax hikes which have stifled the supply of the homes renters desperately need.
Instead, Beadle says Hunt should scrap the extra stamp duty levy paid by landlords which, a the NRLA has claimed before, would see almost 900,000 new long-term homes to rent made available over the next 10 years.