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Governnment to consider carrot-and-stick approach to longer tenancies

RLA says it believes government is warming to idea of tax breaks rather than legal compulsion to create more secure tenancies for famlies.

Nigel Lewis

 

tenancies

The government’s much-anticipated introduction of compulsory three-year tenancies may be replaced with tax incentives for landlords who offer AST with fixed terms of up to five years, the Residential Landlords Association (RLA) has claimed.

It says research by its landlord panel found that 73% of landlords would offer longer tenures if they were offered tax incentives to do so, and also if the eviction process was streamlined to enable faster repossessions in clear-cut cases.

The decision on longer tenancies is widely expected within the Chancellor’s Autumn budget later this month and the RLA is urging Phillip Hammond to adopt a carrot-and-stick approach rather than making longer tenancies compulsory.

“We call on the Chancellor to back this pragmatic proposal.”

It also says the government has publicly indicated that it may back the RLA’s proposal, saying in one briefing document that it “could be quicker to implement”.

tenanciesRecent statements by MPs suggest that positive taxation to support longer tenancies would gain support in Parliament, enabling such tenancies to become available far quicker than imposing them by law,” says RLA Policy Director David Smith (left).

In July the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government published its proposals for compulsory three-year fixed term tenancies with a six-month break clause ‘to help renters put down roots and give landlords longer-term financial security’.

A consultation on the proposals ran until August 26th within which Housing secretary James Brokenshire said he was “seeking views on a new model – one that balances tenants’ need for protection, with landlords’ needs to regain their property when their circumstances change”.

October 5, 2018

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