The property industry has disagreed with comments made by Green party leader Natalie Bennett, who has pledged to remove buy-to-let tax incentives.
In the televised opposition leaders’ debate last week, Ms Bennett criticised buy-to-let, citing a 32-page Wriglesworth Consultancy report, Buy to Let Comes of Age: Eighteen Years of Investment Performance Data on Buy to Let and Other Major Asset Classes, claiming that since 1996 the asset had achieved 1400 per cent returns.
In its 84-page manifesto, the Green party pledged to reduce pressure on house prices by removing tax incentives, including the deduction of mortgage interest as an expense.
However, John Goodall, chief executive of peer-to-peer mortgage lender Landbay, said: “Britain is suffering from a dire lack of new homes. But to solve that we need more politicians to offer real solutions rather than just aggressive rhetoric.”
He claimed that while house prices had increased 200 per cent since 1996, rents had only seen an increase of 62 per cent.
Adviser view
Brian Murphy, head of lending at London-based Mortgage Advice Bureau, said: “Transactional activity and buyer enquiries largely flatlined in March as consumer demand begins to pull back in the run-up to the general election.
“However, this downturn in activity is not expected to continue in the long term.”
