The survey revealed that 97% of property investors do not think the Government is doing enough to support the UK property market.
When asked what changes the government could introduce to better support the UK property market, 50% of the 135 property investors surveyed said scrapping the 3% stamp duty surcharge would improve conditions in UK real estate.
Meanwhile, 33% of property investors called for a reversal on the changes to tax relief on buy-to-let mortgages. Whilst 17% believed introducing a tiered tax system on buy-to-let property would better support the UK property market.
It is interesting that the Stamp Duty surcharge and removing it is more important to property investors than mortgage interest tax relief as it suggests this group of investors are the ones who are most likely to expand their portfolios.
Boris Johnson recently announced that if he succeeds in his Tory leadership battle, one of his key moves will be to overhaul the current stamp duty land tax thresholds. He told the group of Conservative voters that he plans to drastically raise the threshold for paying stamp duty from its current level of £125,000 to £500,000.
The news has evidently caused significant noise in property circles as when asked who they would vote for if a general election was called today, half the respondents revealed they would back the Conservative Party.
18% said the Liberal Democrats, followed by the Brexit Party at 16%. Only 3% of property investors revealed they would back the Labour Party in a general election.
The government has introduced a series of changes to slow down an overheated property market and reduce the number of buy-to-let investors over the years. Property investors have been dealt some serious setbacks, impacted by changes to stamp duty and changes to tax relief but despite the changes, many remain resilient and still see property investment as a key tool for retirement planning, and a good home for their monies whilst interest rates are low.
The need for reliable, transparent, and quick access to funds is ever critical and specialist finance, such as bridging loans, should continue to pick up where a more personalised approach to underwriting is required.
With highly professional specialist lenders offering flexible products at competitive rates, bridging finance has become an attractive proposition to those property investors who are looking to expand their portfolio and need certainty when conducting their business and who often need to move swiftly to capitalise on an opportunity.
