Landlords weighing up their options to reduce costs may be pleased to see the choice of limited company buy-to-let deals has grown. There are now 1,730 fixed rate deals with a term of two- to five-years on the market, up from just 841 back in October 2023. The growth should be welcomed in a market that is consistently facing external pressures, but the rumour mill churn in the run-up to the Budget could be causing concern.

One of the most worrying rumours circulating over recent weeks is the idea to levy National Insurance Contributions (NICs) on pre-mortgage profits. Unlike other reforms that gradually hit landlords, this could become a significant move to lead more landlords into setting up a limited company for their buy-to-let property portfolio. This has been a growing trend over recent years due to reductions in mortgage interest tax relief, which was gradually phased out between 2017 and April 2020. Due to this, new landlords might never have had this relief, but that does not mean they are not facing their own challenges to turn a profit on their investment.