A cursory glance through this edition will confirm that two items in particular stand out and those are about the recent autumn Budget and also trends in Property Development.
Contrary to much speculation in the media before the announcements on 30th October, the Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, did not raise capital gains tax on sales of buy to let property but instead decided to increase to 5% the charge payable when buying an ‘additional property’. As Adam Lawrence explains on page 22 this is a 66.7% increase, which could impact on investors’ decisions about the wisdom of acquiring new investment property.
Readers who take note of our online video output will have seen a live interview that I did just as the Budget was happening with Ben Beadle, CEO of the NRLA who understandably expressed concerns that this increase would only exacerbate the rental supply crisis, drive up rents and cause more pain for tenants. You can watch this video at: https://property-investor-news.com/video/265
Our main feature article on page 14 focuses on the pros and cons of using a Special Purpose Vehicle such as a limited company when acquiring property rather than buying in an individual name. Find a quiet place with no distractions to absorb the article content would be by advice.
Property development can be a risky business, but it is one which many people have been looking more closely at in the last ten or so years as the government loosened up on what qualifies as permitted development.
On page 18 you can learn what Richard Little, a highly respected industry veteran has to say about recent trends and what anyone considering development projects needs to consider.
On page 28, Ritchie Clapson, a regular contributor here on property development offers his thoughts on what makes a successful developer and his comments that “you don’t have to know how to choose curtains” struck a chord for me.
We were fortunate to receive an invitation in October to attend an event about the Future of Property Development’ put together by the Property Developers Club. A brief report is outlined on page 44.
One not entirely unexpected change which is much welcomed and positive news was the Bank of England reducing the base rate to 4.7%. With inflation now on the most recent CPI measure at 1.7%, market expectations are that we will likely see quarterly reductions over the next 12 months of another 100 basis points, so by autumn 2025 we could be at 3.75%.
However, based on evidence from earlier this year, there are no guarantees that the above will occur, just to be very clear.
