I couldn’t sell my house for a £40,000 cut. It’s a disaster for landlords like me

A landlord with several buy-to-let properties says they have been “thumped again” by the Government and fears the 4 per cent tax hike from April 2027 will be the final nail in the coffin for many. Neil France, 69, has five semi-detached homes that he rents out in the Wirral, Merseyside, and three houses in multiple occupation (HMOs) in his home city of Chelmsford, Essex. He says the constant demands on landlords and the financial bashing will lead to many selling up as they realise it is not worth it anymore. After attempting to sell one of his properties, he realised the housing market is “shocking”. He is refusing to sell at a “ridiculously” low price and is going to keep renting the properties out for now. However, he says the extra costs putting pressure on him means he has no choice but to increase rent for his tenants. Labour announced an extra two-percentage-point rise in property income in the Budget – on top of the two-percentage-point rise already announced, meaning there will be a 4 per cent tax hike from April, he said. “It is just another thing on top of everything else that is being put on landlords. It has led to a situation where many landlords just want to get out under any circumstance because it is just not worth the hassle. “I am now in the process of writing to all my tenants to tell them that I will be increasing their rent starting from 1 January. “I was going to try and do a below-inflation rate increase, but after all these things affecting landlords, I can’t afford that now.Neil says that the Government “keeps thumping landlords”, but does not take into consideration the risks and challenges they face. He says things would not be as bad if all tenants paid their rent every month, but at the moment, he is facing a situation where a few of his tenants have lost their jobs or are facing financial plight and he is currently owed £3,000 in rent. “This is the risky side of being a landlord that is not reflected at all when the Government keeps raiding landlords thinking they are an easy target. “I have a really good relationship with my tenants and I am trying to help them. One is looking for a new job and another is on a payment plan. For years, we didn’t put the rents up as interest rates were stable. “But now with all the changes and extra demands, we have no choice but to increase the rents.” Neil, who is married to Heather and has four children and seven grandchildren, works as a freelance training consultant and first became a landlord around 16 years ago. He admits things have become a lot more difficult and he even tried to sell one of his properties up North – but abandoned the plan after they struggled to achieve a decent price. “It was one of our properties on the Wirral. We refurbished it and put it on the market. It was near a grammar school, but it just wasn’t selling. It was a disaster. “The estate agent suggested reducing it, so we did and then reduced it again. In the end, we had reduced it by £40,000 and only got one offer. I thought I am not selling it for that price, so we’ll just keep renting it for now. “It is a very difficult time at the moment because there are lots of things stopping people from making big decisions about buying a property. Neil France says he tried to sell one of his rental properties – but people are too cautious to buy in the current climate “A lot of people were waiting to see what the Budget would bring. There is also a lot of job insecurity. Ladle on top of that the impact of AI on people’s jobs and redundancies and it is easy to see why people don’t want to take the plunge in buying a home. “It is also a buyer’s market because if someone is desperate to sell a property, they are more likely to accept a low offer. This then drives down other prices on that street. “I see property as a business and I know there are going to be good times and there are going to be worse times. At the moment, it is a worse time. “The thing that concerns me most is that there is not any certainty and that is restricting the number of people willing to invest in the private market. “This means that there are people who just want to get out, as they can’t be doing with the regulations and the potential fines that keep being thrown at landlords. “That is scaring a lot of people, especially those who only have one or two properties. Whereas in the past, these people were easily replaced by people in their forties and fifties who thought they would balance their pensions with a buy-to-let, that just isn’t happening anymore.” Neil is going to try to ride it out, but says if he is still in this position in another five years, he will start selling his properties off, even if it is at a lower price. “It is unfortunate that the Government is not helping things and seems to hate landlords,” he said. “The country is in a financial mess. If it meant landlords had to take some pain with a 4 per cent increase and it was also mirrored by the Government making some significant cuts to get the economy back on track, I would say: “OK, that’s my contribution towards helping get the country going again.'” “But the Government hasn’t done that – they are just thumping landlords again.”