“She knows she can hurt them now. Get in Nicola!”

''He's hurt Tyson. He's hurt Tyson and Tyson knows it and is going for him'' - Harry Carpenter during the Frank Bruno v Mike Tyson fight, February 25, 1989.

As the Buy to Let community lifts itself off the canvas and staggers to its feet following a possible knockout punch that was the Government’s reduction of the tax breaks for BTL mortgages (remember when the government allowed that on all mortgages, those were the days!) they have been hit with a right left combination that “Our Arry” would have been proud of. Admittedly, it is only affecting England and Wales (at the moment) but the under the belt punch that is the 3% Stamp Duty on all purchases of second property over £40,000 will undoubtedly be landed shortly.

So where does this leave the punch drunk community of Buy to Letters?

This is my take on the likely fall out from the latest haymaker.

1. The inevitable rush of BTL part-time landlords exiting the market.

2. Transfers of title from individuals into a company wrapper to ameliorate the tax burden

3. A slow down in the housing market as there are fewer Landlords prepared to buy - especially at the lower end of the market.

4. Increase in repossessions with landlords being trapped not having enough money to convert to a company wrapper and not being able to afford to keep the property in individual ownership due to tax cuts

5. The Fish and her cohorts following suit and introduce an even more penal tax on the basis that this is what she did with Stamp Duty/LBTT

If you or someone that you know has a second property and needs to get those properties transferred to a company then get in touch and I will be able to help you.