Will the hike in Stamp Duty kill buy to let in Bexley Borough?
In his autumn statement last week George Osborne announced that landlords will have to pay an additional 3% stamp duty on top of the standard rate when they buy another buy to let property from April 2016. This means, for example, that the stamp duty bill for a £285,000 buy to let home will rise from the current £4,250 to £12,800 from April next year. Landlords asked whether buy to let is still a viable investment option. Some say that property in Bexley Borough will be worth less because potential landlords will not be willing to pay as much, and that if builders or existing homeowners don't feel they are going to get as much for them there is less motivation to build or sell. The person to blame for this situation is George himself. Back in 2012, he chose to utilise the British housing market to kick-start the UK economy by providing subsidies, funding for lending and help to buy. While that helped the Tories get back into power in 2015, some say that this impressive gro...