How does the Budget affect letting agents?

News Category: Industry News

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Letting agents around the country will have watched chancellor of the exchequer Alistair Darling's Budget speech this week to see how they may be affected.

However, the chancellor concentrated mainly on first-time buyers, raising the stamp duty limit for them so that it only applies to properties over £250,000.

LSL Property Services criticised Mr Darling for not extending the stamp duty policy to landlords.

Commercial director David Brown said the government could have attracted more buy-to-let investors by allowing landlords to take advantage of the new limit.

Arla said the chancellor has not done enough to combat the housing shortage.

According to the letting agents body, the changes to stamp duty will not have a positive impact on the private rented sector.

Ian Potter, operations manager at Arla, said: "Westminster has failed to address the need for robust policy in this area, both in terms of the improvement of stock or in incentivising landlord ownership."

The Residential Landlords Association urged the next government to recognise the economic importance of the private rented sector.

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