‘NI on landlord income to force up rents by £1,000’
Propertymark ARLA President says their research suggests landlords will simply pass on the extra cost of NI by pushing rents up.
Landlords could raise rents by as much as £1,000 a year to compensate for paying National Insurance, analysis from Propertymark suggests.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves is said to be considering a move to tax landlords by making them pay NI on rental earnings.
A report in The Times this week suggested Labour is targeting landlords’ ‘unearned income’, which could generate more than £2 billion.
Extra cost
The research by Propertymark for Telegraph Money found that the levy could cost the average landlord an extra £959.76 a year, and be passed on to tenants.
For example, a landlord earning between £50,000 and £70,000 from their properties would have to pay an additional £1,057 in tax.
And there are fears that landlords will simply pass on the extra cost to tenants through the rent charged.
Many landlords will have no choice but to pass this additional cost on to tenants in order to break even.”
Megan Eighteen (main image), President of ARLA Propertymark, said: “If these proposals come into play, we will likely witness a further increase in rent – not only as many landlords will have no choice but to pass this additional cost on to tenants in order to break even, but a further decline in stock will worsen this ongoing trend.”
Increase rents
Katie Burgess, who has a portfolio of properties in Merseyside, told The Telegraph: “As almost all landlords are working people, the majority are already taxpayers, often at the higher rate.
“Increasing the tax burden further for landlords will only serve to increase rents and reduce supply, with many unable to weather the current storms.”
