Landlords and Second Home Levy New 3% surcharge on stamp duty for buy-to-let properties and second homes from April 2016, raising about £1bn in England and Wales will have to pay a 3% surcharge on each stamp duty band. George Osborne said the new surcharge would raise extra money. This change, would "choke off" investment in rented properties for the small investors and those who are thinking about investing as a pension plan for the future. This is likely to turn many new and existing landlords away from the sector and reduce the number of homes to rent and almost certainly driving up rents for the millions. Higher rents make it even less likely that those on low or modest incomes will ever be able to raise the deposit required to realise their dream of home ownership, despite new Help to Buy ISAs or capital loans for Londoners that were unveiled in the Autumn spending Review– first-time buyers will still need to find around 5% of the total purchase price as their share of the … [Read more...]