Spring Statement: How the Chancellor can support the housing market

With the Spring Statement less than one day away, Tim Walford-Fitzgerald, Tax Partner at HW Fisher, outlines three wishlist items for the Chancellor to consider to help the property market.

Get Britain Building Faster

Tim Walford-Fitzgerald, Tax Partner at HW Fisher: “With the limited housing stock at the moment, there is a risk that support which is targeted at buyers will simply stoke demand further without addressing the underlying supply issues. 

“Tax incentives for all parties involved in the process of turning plots of land into homes, or disincentives for delays, could help address the housing shortage. The possibility of higher post-tax profits for developers may grate with some, but it could be the nudge that is needed to get Britain building faster.”

Saving the family home

Tim Walford-Fitzgerald, Tax Partner at HW Fisher: “The family home represents protection. This can come in the form of physical protection during a lifetime and financial protection when parents pass on. 

“The emotional attachment to a home is one of the main reasons that Inheritance Tax has its reputation as the most hated tax. If the main Nil Rate Band is left at £325,000, the Chancellor should consider increasing the additional amount for homes left to descendants, reducing the fears that a childhood home will need to be sold to pay the Inheritance Tax.”

Increase support for the rental sector

Tim Walford-Fitzgerald, Tax Partner at HW Fisher: “Landlords face mounting pressures in today’s residential rental market. As interest rates have risen, the restriction on residential rental mortgage interest has increased in impact. Many landlords are trying, sometimes aggressively, to mitigate the fact that they are being taxed on illusory profits when interest costs are not treated as an expense. The removal of this restriction would mean one fewer artificiality imposed on an already flawed marketplace.”