A landlord who owns nine buy to let properties has blasted George Osborne’s property tax reforms as ‘immoral’. Chaplain William Ruddle has invested in nine properties over the last eight years, but he is now faced with the prospect of having to sell up to four of them, whilst hiking the rents on the remaining properties.
Landlord with a Social Conscience
Reverend Ruddle doesn’t charge full-market rent for his properties. Instead, he keeps his rents around 10-15% below local market rates. He deliberately targets low income tenants, who would not be able to afford the rents charged by other landlords. This strategy has worked well for Reverend Ruddle and he has enjoyed a respectable income of £15k a year.
Landlords’ Property Income Slashed
Now, with the government’s proposed tax reforms coming into play, Reverend Ruddle’s income will fall to less than £500 per year by 2020, and worse still, he will lose his entitlement to Child Benefit because his rental income will push him into the higher rate tax band.
“Some landlords will see their effective tax rate go up to more than 100 per cent. I’ve got to make people homeless. I’m really angry on behalf of my tenants,” he says.
“At least seven out of my nine tenants believe they have no realistic prospect of being able to buy a property. Having to displace low-income tenants doesn’t seem to be very fair. They don’t have any other options. What’s going to happen to rents?”
