To think people who own more than 3 properties should have a special tax applied to them?

[Calltheguards]

I'm just thinking with the housing crisis, should people really own more than 3 properties? I would assume it's a property portfolio and used to exploit renters. AIBU to think there should be a special tax applied to property owners who own more than 3 properties? Maybe tax them at a really high rate to discourage people from hoarding property.

I received a text from HMRC saying that I was due a tax rebate of 300+ if I filled in the online form

I checked the website, it was a scam

Delete !

So- how financially naive do you have to be to buy an 'investment' property seeing as all the LL on here have told us what a hiding to nothing it is? What a vale of tears! The pressures, the risks, the being taxed to death 😉 the horrific tenants.

Why on Earth do you do it?

I can only assume altruism

Thank you all for relieving the young of the burden of home ownership.

Unless.....

If you have clicked on a link to a scam site I would make sure you change your passwords immediately and ensure deleted item is completely gone from trash.

No. I do not. I inherited some land and the neighbors treat it like it belongs to them.

Their family has not spent generations taking care of it. My family has.

Engineers design things. I expect that they will be needed bc they understand how the world works. Believe me, they have a formula for EVERYTHING.

A lot of those people have made careful and calculated decisions

Let's nit forget moving abroad, learning new languages (some are REALLY wanted in UK job market). I came here with no UK qualifications, acceptable English and less than £1000 from which I had to pay for EVERYTHING since I had 1 suitcase of clothes. No duvets, food, bedsheets etc...
Many came even with much less money and barely any language skills, went to work low paid job, did ESOL, some went to college and uni later and now many own businesses, houses, go on holidays etc.
I don't understand why someone who doesn't even speak the language properly and has no qualifications can make it, but apparently local people with local qualifications and native language level can't? I am not trying to be goady. I just honestly don't get it.

To MissConductUs

Successive governments have forced councils to sell council houses to their tenants at a fraction of their true cost.
The councils were also forbidden to build new houses with the proceeds.
Another unfairness is that up to now BTL mortgages have been allowed tax relief, while residential mortgages are not.

Some people think the world owes them a living. Sorry but we all know it’s true.

Dry your eyes OP

@Handsoffmysweets Thank you
Many do. I get it's hard to go from nothing to something but it is doable. It is. And I know someone will throw in survival bias, but I don't really agree with it fully.

Sb47 the world owes people a living? Not sure what that even means. I do believe in human rights, is that what you mean? I believe in a (minimal set) of rights - food, health and yes a roof over a head. I also believe that these rights confer obligations. From each according to his ability and to each according to his need. I also believe that if society is deeply unfair and becoming more so (this thread on housing, increasing inequality) etc, then its up to voters to act. We shouldn't vote merely with our own (property) interests in mind, but with a view to making society fair. Is that what you mean? In that case, yes people are owed a living.

I've worked with people who have learnt 35k+ who have lived the high life, rented, not saved, not paid into a pension

I know some people who have more than one property, have saved, have a pension

Everyone has choices

Some people choose to work PT

Some people work more than one job

Some people take opportunities, some people are scared of change

Some people are lucky/unlucky

I moved somewhere with a bag of clothes & an over draft
I left wealthier to another location

None of us escape death or taxes

Theaveragejuror because not everyone has the drive to better themselves or accept that it takes work, commitment and going without, some expect others to pay/supply/provide for them.

The question on this thread sums it up. Jealousy for what others have worked hard for. I have every sympathy for those that are in need. It’s those are fully able mentally and physically but don’t put much effort in yet feel bitter to those that have given blood, sweat and tears to achieve what they have that I’m talking about... and they moan about their “lot” as if it’s got nothing to do with them. They do exist.

The more you tax rental properties the less point their is in companies building houses. Any landlords that are left will have to put rents up.

So really there will be less houses and renting will cost more. YABU

@shirleybanister Thanks for the explanation. That sounds like quite a mess, and a bit of a mystery for me as to what the motivation could have been.

So many of these people are at a point in their lives where they cannot come to grips with where technology and the future is headed.

I'm currently reading this book, after hearing a talk by the author at a conference last year. I have one DC in uni and another starting soon, so this topic is of keen interest to me.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Industries_of_the_Future

Read the book. There will be jobs but they'll be in new areas of endeavor as technology changes things.

I object to both the OP’s “exploit tenants” comment and the suggestion that rental income should be subject to extra tax (which it already is by the way!)

My DH and I paid the deposit on two buy to let properties from the proceeds of my critical illness policy which paid out when I was diagnosed with cancer a few years ago. We didn’t buy property to exploit anyone. We bought older properties and fully refurbished them to provide good quality homes that we rent long term to families. This provides an income to replace my self employed income that disappeared overnight when I had to stop work to have surgery and the subsequent six months of chemo and radiotherapy. My business never recovered following my long term absence.

We’re about to buy a third buy to let property by remortgaging the other two to raise the deposit for a third. One property is now occupied by my elderly parents as this has enabled them to move nearer to us as they need assistance with day to day living. We don’t make a penny profit on this property, My parents pay us the equivalent of the mortgage payment in rent but I still pay tax on the ‘rent’ as under tax changes on buy to let properties you are no longer allowed to offset mortgage payments against the rental received - so I pay tax on a profit I don’t make. I also pay tax on the other market rent, but again without any offset for the mortgage payment expense so I am in fact already paying more tax than on any other type of income. Should I really be charged even more tax??

The OP’s inference that anyone owning a few rental properties are excessively wealthy preying on the poor is offensive and a sweeping generalisation.

We are not wealthy by any means. The already punitive taxation on buy to let properties means we don’t make a huge profit - my perceived taxable income will be under £20000 pa even with a third property.

I feel fortunate to be in the position that we are, which I know is far better than many others and the properties do give us options for the future. I know my DH and children will be in a far more secure position financially should I die prematurely and with a bit of luck I’ll remain well and the increase in value of the properties will help pay off the mortgage on our own home when we sell them on retirement (not forgetting of course that we’ll pay another large tranche of tax in capital gains on that profit).

Yes OP imo yabu.

TheAverageJuror
You can get 95% mortgage as a first time buyer for any property, not just new built

Didn't say that you couldn't.

Gosh, op has came in for a right kicking on this thread.

I can understand her point of view from one respect; young people are being priced out of the housing market in many areas. If buy to let’s were restricted, then there would be more affordable housing for first time buyers. When buying our first flat, it turned out that a landlord also wanted to buy it and offered a higher price. Luckily for us the owner sold it to us. I actually couldn’t say that I would be that kind.

Who watched the TV program a few years ago
People went to live in a village in Papua New Guinea & thought they were superior

The people in PNG paid nothing for accommodation, food, clothes, water & they all knew each other

When the PNG arrived in UK, they were astonished at how much everything cost & how people were not very friendly ( bigger population)

When the people returned to PNG the only thing from the modern world that they asked for, was that some of their people were trained to be doctors

There seems to be some life lessons here for everyone

Never assume

Be kind to others

@BoneyBackJefferson
Sorry. I assumed from this
Help to buy is a con (in my view) as it requires an immediate full payment once the term is up.
95% is starting to be an option but frankly the quality of the builds suck.
that you were talking about New Builds only. I have encountered lots of people who though 95% mortgages can only be used on new builds so i must have misread your post.

Regarding the jealousy comments. A lot of people seem to really believe that their wealth is the result of hard work off their own back. But honestly, in most cases luck has a massive amount of impact.

I’m from a council estate originally, but now have a decent job, and a lovely big house.

But, being honest, a lot of that is luck. Luck that I had a stable, loving family to grow up in. Luck that I am fairly intelligent. Luck that I married someone stable. And luck that family gave us money towards our first deposit.

And where does this one end? Tax hotels punitively as they offer accommodation? Tax businesses because they occupy land and buildings which could be lived in? Tax people with two cars because, well, you can’t afford one? Tax people with a spare pair of pants because, if you are taxing other duplicates, then why stop at all?

Second or third home owners pay stamp duty, council tax, capital gains tax and inheritance tax and also VAT on every service, maintenance, improvement, insurance or repair the house requires.

The OP’s thinking is pure Marxism and also has a very green envious tinge to it. Those who think like this should consider very carefully if they would like punitive taxes placed on what they own and do as allowing others to be punished for what is totally within the law would inevitably creep to what they enjoyed and owned. Load the gun and it will be used on you.

Property bought legally with taxed earnings is the owners to enjoy freely and can be defended by law. State owned property has always been awarded to the leader’s favourites.

@Miljah

Because interest rates are so low and you get taxed on your savings so it’s not feasible to just leave it sat in savings. Property is a better way to invest than savings but it’s not without its pitfalls.

I've seen on right move property for sale

One room in a hotel in a big city

One studio flat in a uni halls of residence

Houseboats

Garages

Parking spaces

Empty churches

Old farmhouses

Property on auction sites

Property abroad

Land for sale field, woodland, riverbank

Part of an enormous old mansion with communal land

Wooden lodges, mobile homes

Businesses shops, hotels

There is choice if you have the means or opportunity