Everyone knows buy to let investors are out-bidding young families trying to buy their first home. This is a fact of life on the lower rungs of the housing market.

As well as driving up prices in the 'used' house market any BTL tycoon with any sense is also taking out multiple interest only mortgages and buying new properties in bulk at a discount (25% isnt uncommon) from housebuilders. Therefore not only out-competing first time buyers but doing so on a very un-even playing field.

The worrying thing is that they're actively encouraged to do all of this by a labour government via the tax break discussed above. Why? So they can prevent a house price crash on their watch.

So it seems to me that in 10 years we will either have had a sigificant house market correction or a deepening of the current scenario - ie: a Dickensian type society where the only first time buyers are those born with a silver spoon and everyone else faces a life time of renting to landlords

Mark, Liverpool,

Owning a second home is immoral

Steve, Bath,

The real point here is that BTL investors are in it for profit. The Inland Revenue make it easy for BTL investors by allowing income (rent) to be offset for tax purposes against mortgage interest. This perk is not allowed to anyone buying a property they intend to live in, and will I am sure on time be stopped. BTL investors will bleat on about CGT but that really isn't a big issue.
By taking away this perk then, with luck, the housing market will slow down and allow first time buyers to be able to buy their own property.
Gordon Brown needs to look at this loophole asap.

Martin, Poole, UK

Buy-to-let landlords provide a valuable service in return for a profit. This is no different to a farmer growing crops, shops selling food or manufacturers making goods. They should be as entitled to offset their expenses (including interest) against income for tax purposes as anyone else. They should also stump up their taxes like anyone else.

Property prices are so high, not because of landlords, but because there are too few houses being built in the areas people want to live - that's why a 3-bed house costs £300K in London and £30K in Burnley.

Finally, please stop knocking socialists - I am a socialist landlord providing high quality housing for my delighted tenants.

Rajeev, London, UK

Buy to let families:

I'm currently buying a house, I have a mortgage rate fixed for 5 years, so no rises will bother me personaly, and since the owners are motivated sellers, I can take a 20% in property values before even nearing negative equity.

In another year, my partner will finish university, with a good degree in a useful subject, IE not a third in media studies from an arts college.

Using her income, we intend to buy a second property, and rent out the one I'm currently purchasing.

Could someone please explain how what I'm doing is immoral?

Dominic, Manchester, UK

Non-story: there can't be many landlords who are genuinely unaware of the difference between mortgage interest or repayment or the need to allow for capital gains tax. So that just leaves people who aren't declaring rental income/capital gains who are in essence no different from anyone else operating in the black economy.
If the government are serious about tax on residential buy-to-lets tnen they sould look at a: taxing a BTL property like any other business asset (taper relief) and b: allowing people who are using a BTL as a pension vehicle to do so under the same tax regime as any other pension investment.
Landlords and second-home owners are easy targets for people who resent not having their own property when others have more than one, but the numbers involved are tiny compared to the massive shorfall in housebuilding in this country, which combined with a long-period of cheap and easy credit has brought us to the current pass.

Mick, LONDON,

It is entirely fair for the inland revenue to go after tax dodgers, be they landlords or anyone else. Landlords might provide a valuable service. So do pizza parlours, IT companies or any other enterprise. Are they supposed to get the kid glove treatment too if they don't pay what is due? Or is it just landlords who deserve special kid glove treatment because (suprise) you happen to be a landlord? The law is the law, it applies to everyone. No one is victimizing landlords. If money is due, then the government has every right to extract it. If you don't like tax, move to Dubai, don't break the law.

Paul, Dubai, UAE

I have only joined the BTL brigade 1 year ago to provide financial stability and assets for my future. Being highly taxed and with all the other costs of home ownership, how can one save for their future?
No one wants to live their retirement in poverty and especially with this govt in power they can expect no favours. One gets in life what they put in, if u want to spend your money drinking ect then fine but don't have ago at those people who have saved money in order to do something! Don't expect the council or govt to provide everything do something yourself!!

paramjit singh, erith, uk

Can someone please explain to me why owning property shold not be subject to the free maket? Why is it any different to buying clothes, food or a car? Why should I be attacked if I decide I want to buy two properties and what has it got to do with anyone else?

If you cannot afford to buy the house you want then join the club! Like me you will have to buy a house you can afford instead. If you cannot afford to buy anything then you have to rent. That is the deal. If you do not like it move somewhere else.

The free market has delivered frankly astonishing economic advancement in the last 100 years and as a result all of you posting live in the most sophisticated society ever known to man. It did not happen by accident. Perhaps the people complaining about our wonderful free market system should try North Korea, I understand everyone gets a house there.

Gareth, London,

i hope they all lose their buy-to-let flats so that honest working people like me can afford to buy somewhere to live at last. it is a disgrace that people owning multiple properties receive any kind of tax relief when a nurse or a teacher cannot simply afford a home where they work.

patrick moran, london, uk

I say must say the insinuation that most landlords may not be paying their tax is really very discriminating of honest people. There are not enough houses to meet local needs for the local councils and there are a lot of genuine landlords housing people legitemately. A little appreciation and trust would not go amis! On a buy to let most landlords are stuggling to make ends meet, with mortgages and maintenace that is beyond general domestic householders requirements and insurances. Especially now the interest rates are moving at a rate of knots. The governments idea of continually looking to draw on peoples hard earned income and penalising them is not acceptable.

marilyn, plymouth,

My heart bleeds for all those poor people who might have to pay tax on their second homes.

Oh well perhaps then I, and virtually every person of my age that I went to school with, will be able to move back to our villages in Cornwall. Not only can we not afford to buy there we also can't afford to rent there. Buy-to-let people have bought up the property to rent back to us at huge rents (£800 a month for a two bed cottage in my village might sound a bargain but seasonal unemployment is 40%). Of course they also keep the best properties to rent out to holidaymakers at huge prices and expect similar returns during the winter months.

Paul T, London, UK

I feel sorry for the small investors who have fallen for the BTL hype so aggressively pushed by the media and other vested interests.

Buying to let has long been a mugs game!

It is no surprise that people who buy an "investment" that requires a larger mortgage payment then they can take in rent also are incapable of the very simple mathematics involved to work out their tax liabilities.

If you bought some shares you wouldn't expect to pay the company a negative dividend, but that's exactly what the hapless BTL'er ends up doing if the rent is less than the mortgage payment.

Many people's future pensions have been wrecked by the life insurance companies being forced to sell shares in 2003, now plan B (buy to let) also looks somewhat doomed...

Also, for those financial geniuses who sagely regard their property as a "long term" investment, take a look at the performance of property versus the stock market for the last century...

Alan, Chamonix, France

"Sure, it's pretty cold and the lights don't work very well - but at least it's a job. "

*sniggers*

Why didn't you sign "Fagin"?

starling, Lancaster,

GJ,
Laugh until you can, and remember that a long term investment is a short term one gone south.
Ah ah ah... I am training my laugh for when the value of your portfolio plummets. I am renting from you, I have nothing to fear about... by the way, can you please stop by, the toilet does not flush

Michele, Richmond, UK

I don't think that the majority of buy-to-let landlords are greedy and dishonest and I think most of the comment here is split between those that are involved in BTL and those that aren't. I have a large property in London and I rent rooms out to up to 15 people at any one time. Most of these people are quite poor and in need of work. I would call it more like a charity as many of the tenants are in fact children and I also give them all a sewing machine to make wallets - which I then allow them to give to me as rent. Sure, it's pretty cold and the lights don't work very well - but at least it's a job.

Once again, it one rule for fat cat single property owners and one rule for the rest of us.

MEW, London, UK

I find Mr Roy-Chowdhury’s comments quite amazing. Even the most ill informed buy to let investor must know whether or not he has made a profit on letting his property. Would he have us believe that these people do not know that should be paying tax on that profit? How on earth did they find out that they could set mortgage payments against the rent in the first place? Would he feel the same about a plumber who thought that he could offset those same mortgage payments against the profits of his business and because he thought he was only just about covering his costs so there was no need to complete a tax return. I do not agree that the a light touch is needed. It’s high time that the Revenue started to treat this type of “ignorance” for it really is. Tax evasion, pure and simple. Many landlords have been freeloading on the rest of us for far too long already.

Mike G, Luton,

Ian Smith - There are arguments for and against what you are suggesting. The problem in the past with too much house ownership is that people who have no realistic chance of buying - for various reasons - low income being the most important - need properties to rent. I do agree that anyone who buys only to let is now in business and business rates should apply. People who let their only home to work abroad, etc., should be in a normal tax catogory. As far as taxing holiday homes abroad, the IR would never have enough resources to visit websites and adverts and then try and establish whether tax is being paid in the relevant counties. Most foreign countries, Spain in particular, already levy tax on properties owned by non residents, regardless whether they are let or not.

JohnB, Malaga, Spain

If someone is currently trying to save a deposit to buy a property then just don't bother. Successive Government's inept policies relating to anything affecting the housing market has meant that property prices are artificially inflated and in most cases, for the first time buyer, unaffordaable.
You'll never be able to save enough to reach the amount you'll need for a deposit, simply because that deposit figure will go up as property prices go up. You'll be playing permanent catch up!
I suggest you stay at your parental home......but hold on, they don't want you there indefinitely and nor do you want to be at their home forever, so what are your options?.....to move out and rent somewhere of course. Who provides that 'somewhere'?, landlords do. So those who criticise buy to let private landlords, stay at home or live on the streets because with no buy to let market and first time buys becoming more unaffordable, these will be the only options you'll be left with! Think again.

Richard, Brighton,

I would like to offer Ray from Surrey an economics chair at one of our leading universities. His clear thinking and insightful analysis is sorely missing from most of public life.

John, Harrogate,

The Tenant Deposit Scheme has nothing to do with looking after tenants rights, it's a way of the taxman increasing revenues

john, Derby, derbyshire

I work in an Estate Agents and out of the last 35 properties sold in May 2007 12 were to staff from this office and various others. Each property sold was for less than the market value ( the valuer fudged the original value to the unsuspecting seller on original visit ) and after a week of delayed advertising and delayed scedule preparation the seller is usually happy to receive viewings. These viewing can be staff from other offices or friends of the estate agency staff ( a £100 payment for bogus viewer ). The offer to buy usually comes in in a family members name and will be more than the sellers asking price but obviously less than the market value. Lick of paint laminate flooring and within 3 months back on market for a 10-20% profit. Oh did you ever wonder why its so difficult to find a repossessed property ? they're gone before the public get a chance . And incase your wondering there are No regulations in force to prevent anyone becoming a legitimate estate agent.

Mr Eckford, Hamilton, Scotland

"Where would I have lived, in your utopia? In a tent?!! "

In a flat provided by a housing association. Go and have a look in Holland or Germany. There, unless you're a student, people always rent from housing associations, whether they are rich or poor. They get great accommodation, at a reasonable price, and there's a large list of rules associations must stick to (including a list of maximum rents). You won't find any expensive slug-infested hell-holes without insulation or proper heating there.

starling, Lancaster,

TAX TAX TAX thats all Britain is now, The man who is heading for number ten is now doing everything he can to not only cause a housing market crash with Landlords having no option other then sell now flooding the market, the tax system is a sham no one can undersatnd it and the law is not on our side. Nothing has changed since the days of Robin Hodd and he sherif of Nottingham!.. Yes we should pay Taxes but why should we pay tax's for other peoples mistakes Mr Brown after all shouldn't you be in prison for loosing peoples Pension funds?? oh lets keep that on quiet... So it looks like people can no longer own anything outright as the in;land revenue can just do as they like ! horrible lot. in fact whats the point in working ! you just get it robbed off you and given to asylum seekers .. many thanks Mr Brown from a very hard working Landlord who already though he was paying tax !

pete jones , leeds, uk

The reason many young people cannot save enough to put a deposit on a house is because they spend the first ten years of their working lives paying off their student loans, which the banks pushed like mad.They are therefore tied to the rental sector. A double whammy for those who went into higher education!

A A, Banbury, UK

My opinion - buy to let is of course OK for students, migrant workers etc but it has got out of hand and is now responsible for overheating house prices at the same time as creating a huge shortage of properties available to buy for owner occupiers, especially first time buyers.

How it has happened - a serial buy to let investor has gathered enough equity that he/she can afford to lose which can then fund further borrowing. First time buyers are limited by income alone. It's a bit like Geoffrey Howe's comment about being sent out to play cricket when your bats have been broken.

Ian Smith, Belfast, UK

Please, please will people stop referring to buy-to-let "investments" as an example of shrewd pension planning. If you are one of these people, you've probably borrowed 20x your income or more, on an interest-only basis. This means that the rental payments you receive are not paying off the capital sum, and in many cases are not even covering the interest payments! If the rental market turns down, which it surely will at some point, things could look even less rosy.

Property prices WILL NOT keep rising in a uniform fashion for the next 40 years. It's quite likely that all you'll end up with is a lifetime of sleepless nights, endless calls from idiots who've managed to break your newly fitted washing machine/windows/bathroom suite, extortionate bills from tradesmen, and ultimately no more money than you'd have if you just put your money into a savings account. Well done people. Hey, you might even go brankrupt!

Piggy, London,

I am from a small village in Cornwall. I, and most of my friends, have had to move away to London or somewhere similar, to get a highly paid job so that I can slog for fifteen years to buy a disproportionately small flat and eventually move back to my village, St Agnes in Cornwall, and live where I should have been all along.

Now that I am in London I find that my city salary plus my partners salary is enough to afford a one or two bedroomed flat in a reasonable location (lets face it, if I'm forced from the countryside why should I live in some horribly miserable identikit suburb for 15 years whilst away from my beautiful village?).

It may sound unrealistic from a city worker but, speculators should be in speculative markets, not in housing markets. Anyone want to speculate on NHS equipment or schools or bin collection? You should be risking your money in shares not homes.

Tax them into the position of first time buyers so they know what they have done to everyone else.

Paul T, London, UK

If the glut of Buy to Let investors have pushed up house prices, then surely the same glut has kept rent prices down

SI, London,

I dont understand why anyone should feel sorry for BTL entrepreneurs ? They are business poeple like any other. Would you feel sorry for a Bank if it made a poor investment decision/ Got in difficulties because of unpaid tax ?

The BTL entrepreneurs are buying property to make a profit, some owners have protfolios of 700 properties ! And have ammassed multi million pound fortunes. If there is tax due then they should pay it.

The growth of BTL has resulted in a speculative bubble in the property market. House prices are out of reach of most first time buyers. The aspiration of the young to own their own home is now beyond them. With interest rate rises more BTL properties will be put up for sale.

The revenue must tax the capital gains that are due on these properties.

andy, manchester,

Oh dear. There goes my pension.

Shaun O'Kane, London, London

Anna of Camerley says: "The reason property prices have gone up is not buy to let...it is simply supply and demand."

That's a bit of a contradiction as it's because of the buy-2-let craze demand has gone up. You have investors pouring money they don't have into properties up and down the country. To exaggerate the current situation to make my point, if the buy-2-let brigade bought 50 million properties in the UK, it doesn't change the fact that there are still people who wish to purchase a property for themselves and since all those buy-2-letters have purchased the said properties, there are only a few left to be fought over by the millions wanting to get on the property ladder.

James, London, UK

This has nothing to do with buy to let or anything else. This is simply tax evasion. In each jurisdiction you have to play by the rules or you get penalised. If the government has identified 80,000 tax evaders in a group, then it should penalise them.

Why are we talking about "right to buy" or anything housing related? When people don't pay the tax the rules require of them then they should be forced to. If you don't like it, then switch to a tax jurisdiction you prefer.

Liam, London,

In terms of efficiency in collecting the tax, what do you think that the Chancellor was doing when he legislated for registrations of deposits?

There are only to my mind 2 providers. Will he need any more? There is also a penalty of several months rent if a landlord doesn't register a tenant's deposit, and further possession cannot be ordered by a Court without the deposit being part of the tenancy protection scheme..

My Legal Aid contacts tell me it was high time some control was taken over the BTL sector but I don't know..

Pete Balchin, Solicitor, Bristol, uk

I like the headline "buy-to-let families". Makes the whole buy-to-let business sound very cosy, when in reality these are the people making life hell for families who'd like to buy their own home (to live in, not as an investment).

Matt ODonnell, London, UK

"The campaign represents the latest attempt to extract as much tax as possible to boost revenue for the Exchequer."

Oh please! Be serious. Tax evasion is tax evasion - the fact this is nice middle class people on the dodge is beside the point - if this was a peice about welfare fraud you'd be whipping yourself up into a right old forth of righteous indignation. But the rules are clearly different for white collar criminals!

James Connolly , London,

It's not only U.K. landlords who should be worrying. Many of those who have bought properties overseas and rent them out are also potential targets. Many do not disclose their rental income in either the country where the property is located nor to the U.K. tax authorities. Many use internet sites to advertise and as this often includes names, addresses, telephone numbers, email address, rental rates and a booking calendar it is very easy for the tax office to not only find the advertiser but also calculate exactly how much income they have earned.

Even worse if they bought the overseas property with undisclosed income and have not declared their purchase to the taxman

Adrian Head, Benalmadena, Spain

Its simple, whether by to let, big business, small business etc. You are in it to make money. So you have to pay tax due! no "its unfair" comments etc, we all have to pay tax. This ts the government trying to screw down on tax avasion that is being done by many buy to let "investors" who are dabbling in thier own business to try to earn more. Yes it can be hard work and yes it can be worrying but thats what your boss has to do to pay your wages and he has to still pay tax.
Quite simply all we can change is the amount of tax we pay and how its spent by voting in differnt governments. It just so happens we all pay alot more under this one and they waist it all.

andy, petersfield,

My solution - it's simple really. Level the playing field just a bit by designating all buy-to-let property as businesses (which they are). In that case they would pay business rates instead of residential rates/council tax. An average tax bill for a rented house might triple, from say £1000 to £3000. In the absence of surging prices the only option for investors would be to sell many of their properties as the whole 'rent to pay the mortgage' thing would then be uneconomic in a lot of cases. This would free up a lot of property at the first time buyer end of the market and the number of owner occupied homes would start to rise again. It would have to result in a price correction as well, because the new equilibrium price would be lower where most buyers are owner occupiers. This would be a good thing in my opinion.

Ian Smith, Belfast, UK

In civilized countries, people pay property taxes that escalate with the number of properties they own

Michele, Richmond, UK

It would appear that some btl investors may have been using a tax rebate for something that it shouldn't have been used for. This may, or may not, have been deliberate. It would also appear that the taxman is ensuring that those that claim against tax do so legally. I can't see what the problem is, unless btl investors feel that it is okay to use the tax I pay to pay off loans that they have taken out.

David Leslie, Perth, Scotland

I live in a quite nice housing association flat in Solihull and pay £250 monthly rent. My neighbour lives in an identical flat but rents from a private landlord and pays £650 monthly rent. The point is that housing associations will always be better at providing reasonable cost housing for the masses and the government should be aggressively funding, encouraging, and expanding their operation.
BTL landlords are simply in it to make a profit.

Steve, Solihull, West Midlands

I own the central London house I live in, 2 BTL properties and am in the process of buying another. All I say to the moaning minnies is HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA (that's me laughing all the way to the bank).

For those of you with the guts to borrow you can do the same. For those of you without, good luck in your old age.

GJ, London,

I have helped my 2 sons buy flats in glasgow over the last 4 weeks and on each occassion paid £10K less than the market value due to an increasing number of BTL landlords disposing their properties as rents have started to reduce. More and more estate agents now have a surplus and prices seem to be reducing monthly so I'm wondering whether I should have bought now or waited a while longer as the market in central scotland seems to have been turning for a while now. My neighbour is friends with a few estate agents and now i hear that some smaller companies are merging due to financial losses and some have even adapted with solicitor firms to reduce their overheads. My fear now is that with more and more properties coming on there could be a change from too much supply and thereby pushing prices low to a negative equity.

H John, Glasgow, Scotland

There should be a maximum amount of properties one individual can own. No more than 5...

tom, london, london

Owning a second home is immoral

Paul, Middlesbrough,

Loved the bit where you state that " landlords MAY not know that some of the mortgage repayments go towards reducing the actual debt" nonsense !!! have you seen the loan documentation where it states with ABSOLUT Clarity whether the loan is puerly interest or part repayment......typical losuy journalism scaremongering all and sundry !! publish this !!

Big Al, Penrith, Wales

Farmers do not have any housing problems. Our generous government give the sons and daughters of farmers £150,000 in kind to set up home and then give the farmer £150,000 in kind to retire. You never hear farmers complain about housing problems. Regards,Flatroofer.

Eddie Ward, Crossgates, Radnor County

That's exactly what they're saying, M from Cambridge. Middle England has no shame.

James, New York City,

Who exactly is denying Gavin from London his "right" to buy a home. I see plenty of homes for sale all the time. Gavin if you want to buy a home, then perhaps you should be wiser with your money and investment choices and stop blaming it on others who have worked hard for their home and for the home they are providing for someone else.
Diana, Antrim, NI

Diana Smith, Antrim, N Ireland

David of London

I agree. The interest element of repayments on any type of mortgage that funds a buy to let, is in my opinion tax deductable. I think on this point the article is quite mis-leading.

Regards

Steven

Steven , Stafford, Staffordshire

Having previously let property, the IR requested confirmation from our mortgage lender confirming the 'interest' amount of the mortgage as well as the annual statement, so not sure how IR have lost revenue from 'buy-to-letters' who have completed tax returns.

Jan, London, UK

Tony,
interest on loans are a tax deductible business expense - any company that borrows money can claim this deduction as well as individuals. Losing this tax break would put up the cost of business and put lots of us out of work! Anyway, tax is all swings and roundabouts - if the landlord sells his investment property and the profit is large enough capital gains tax at 40% is payable. The owner ocupier with one house, doesn't have any liability no matter how large the profit.

Lindy, Luton,

"Theses btl properties form an important part of the private letting market which gives people the opportunity to rent a decent new home."

Decent?! Ha! A lot of private landlords only want to MAKE money, not spend it. They'll buy a delapidated property and rent it out without doing anything about it. I live in one. My neighbour has the same landlord. His ancient immersion heater is so dangerous, that the electrician told him to stay well away from it, because otherwise he'd get electrocuted. Did the landlord fix it? Of course not. My bath has a crack in it. He'll probably fix it once the ceiling has fallen in.

starling, Lancaster,

As a Chartered Tax Adviser and a landlord I pay all taxes due, correctly, and it does not hamper my business at all and certainly agree that everyone else should!

Strange thing about this is that since December 2003 all property purchases and sales (event those exempt from stamp duty or below the threshold) have been notified to HMRC. The fact that they are not using this information is shocking to say the least and does not give me much confidence that they will use this new information any better!

Martin, Newcastle,

In response to: Des, London, UK

Sir I'm afraid you are typical of Ideological left wing social meddlers.

Prior to owning my own property, I rented. The reason being that until my 28th year, I had not the financial stability, the inclination, nor the funds saved for a deposit.

Were there no flats to let, due to your proposal to, “Ban all buy to lets” Where would I have lived, in your utopia? In a tent?!!

Ben Moss, London,

Matt @ London,

If it were truly free market, then house prices would not have got so high as house builders will have built enough to satisfy demand. However, the Mr. Prescott's policies have made sure that more flats are built (which aren't selling) but not houses.

Simon , Leeds,

"Landlords in Britain face a capital gains tax bill of more than £4.1 billion, with landlords facing an average bill of £48,600 based on 2006 housing prices, according to figures from Landlord Mortgages, a specialist buy-to-let mortgage broker.

The average house price in 2006 according to Halifax, Britain’s largest mortgage lender, was £179,601."

I don't see how the £48,600 can be correct. Surely capital gains tax is only assessed on the increase in asset value over and above the original price paid?

Derrick Fisher, Los Angeles, California

BTL returns are unsustainable, this investment segment should have been regulated and was left at the mercy of unscrupoluos "advisers"... mortgage brokers & estate agent.
I sympathize with BTL investors who will suffer losses, particularly because, being highly leveraged, many of them will be forced to liquidate and not be able to weather the price correction.

Michele, Richmond, UK

The people on here moaning about buy-to-lets don’t understand it at all. They don't understand that:
(1) Buy to letters have to put their own money at risk in the form of deposits. If house prices go down you could lose the lot.
(2) Rents are maybe 5-6% of house values - you can get as much in deposit accounts. Hardly exorbitant.
(3) You can only charge a market rent. You can’t just ask what you want - you have to take what you can get.
(4) Buy to lets are not ALL full of 20 year olds keen to buy. Many are expats, divorcees, temporary workers, people moving house and lots of others who need good quality temporary accommodation.
(5) The real cause of the housing shortage is divorce,people living longer, immigration,people living alone,failure to build due to the planning system. (6) Buy to let requires a lot of work - you try it! (7) Most buy to letters pay the tax that is required and are above board. Of course tthose that haven’t should pay what they owe.

Charles, Bath, UK

I disagree with the above comment,all the BTL investors i know have one property apart from the main home and see it as way to potentialy retire.As the gov has screwed our pensions and seems to want us all to be state dependant this news is hardly a shock.

It wont affect big business and is the usual labour ploy of hitting the small investor.

We may as well all give up on saving and investing as were all going to end up losing whatever we save via means tested care or tax .

Planning for the future under a labour gov is a waste of time,unless you happen to be a larger corporate who receive increasing tax breaks which the middle class then pay for.

neil, bmth,

With regards to Mr Max Temperley's comment, mortgage lenders provide an annual mortgage statement just after April 5. The statement confirms the outstanding mortgage sum and the total amount of mortgage interest paid in the past tax year, which is a deductible expense from rental income.

Mukefor, Crawley,

My tenant pays £675 per week. Yes, per week. That's not because she can't afford to buy, it's because she wants to rent. So where are the communists left? Either she should be evicted for supporting the BTL sector or I should be forced to cohabit for owning a second property. Like most BTL landlords I have an interest only mortgage. But if I didn't get tax relief on the mortgage interest, I'd put her rent up 40% as would every other landlord. So where are the communists left?

Philippa Pirie, London, England

Many buy-to-let owners have been scuppered by the heavy duty MO law already. There was only 3 months to sort the issue out properly, which in rental terms is no time, so many have sold to clear out. There was nowhere else to turn. That may have accounted for the blip in the sale figures last year of large properties.
Further taxations would just be another form of stealth tax to cover for financial botching in the public housing sector by taking yet more tax from the financially prudent - many who were only doing it to compensate for a pension fiasco in the first place...
Nobody minds reasonable taxation, but be reasonable...

Frances, Oxford,

Brown's amnesty to 'come clean' on tax sins is not without precedent. On accession to the throne various monarchs have offered inducements to their subjects, presumably to make the bitter taste, sweeter. However, with Gordon are we missing something more sinister. If tax has been owed for the past six years, why wasn't it collected, when due? The land registry has ownership details, the IR have received Stamp duty, so why haven't the IR done some basic math before? Has Gordon, in the sure knowledge of windfall liabilities owed by his subjects continually misrepresented the state of the economy for his own purposes?

Elizabeth, London,

Landlords have had to pay tax on their profits/gains for as long as I can remember. I believe it’s only the occasional sale of a main private residence or a private vehicle that escapes capital gains tax, and nothing much escapes income tax.

I own a couple of small businesses, and pay a whole load of taxes in relation to them. It’s only right that the taxman clamps down on any other businesses that are evading the tax laws – otherwise the rest of us have to pay even more tax to cover their deficit.

These people are not destitute. If they owe tax on investment properties, it is because they have made business profits/gains on which taxes are due. They don’t need any sympathy, or for the rest of us to pay their taxes for them !!

Mark, Bournemouth,

Buy to let has a seriously unfair impact on the housing market and this can only be rectified by removing the inequitable tax advantage enjoyed by speculators.There is no justification for allowing loan interest to be used as a tax allowance, income and allowances are separate components of our tax system. It would be a straightforward step to remove the allowance in stages, as happened with MIRAS, and to ensure income tax is paid,the landlord should be compelled to submit a tax certificate annually. A copy of the certificate should be given to the tennant and a percentage of tax collected , allocated to a tennant savings scheme and paid out in the form of a house purchase grant,or pension.Go on Gordon,a stealth tax that would actually be a vote winner!

Terry Nicholas, Radstock, England

I don't disagree with there being a proportion of the housing stock to rent, renting suits some people perfectly. What I do disagree with is the fact that the buy to let market looks more lucrative than it actually is because amateur landlords don't pay the right amount of tax. This has helped to over inflate properly prices. Therefore this is a great move by Gordon BGrown (probably the only one)

I think that every person renting in the country should inform HM Revenue & Customs via a letter of.

*The Address of where they rent
*How much they pay in rent
*Who the Landlord of their property is. (your estate agent has a responsibility to tell you this if requested)
*how long they have been paying rent at that address.

This should help HM Rev + Cus track down more tax, and help the overly inflated housing market have the inevitable re-adjustment that is needed,

Lloyd , London, UK

Anyway,all is about migrants and taxes.Let's see where gov heading.Squeeze lowest paid workers,so they pay max,because they renting.Migration problem solved-people wont come over Europe to earn £30 for hard 8h work after tax.Wont be problem-less local benefit takers,because they will earn above tax 'brackets'.Unemployment figures down.No need for extra housing.All happy?Rich will get richer.And maybe joining eurozone.

ray, surrey,

I have a BTL outside London as I can't afford to buy anywhere in London. I therefore rent in London and rent out elsewhere - it forms part of my pension. As I am not likely to be able to afford to buy anywhere in London at any time in the future, if I didn't have that property, when I retire I would not be able to afford to live anywhere except in social housing with the rent paid by the taxpayer. I am therefore contributing tax now and saving the future taxpayer money.

Jon B, London,

Buy to let investors are not doing something 'socially useful'. They more than anyone else have pushed up house prices at the lower end of the market and seek to profit by letting to the very people that they have priced out of the market. And you ask that we sympathise when they are asked to pay the tax they owe. The rules are far from complex and anyone investing in property ought to be intelligent enough to know what sort of mortgage they have.

Buy to let investors often defend their actions by saying that anyone can do the same. True, but we cannot all do it - the numbers would not add up. Sooner or later, if enough people muscle in, the renting market will be saturated.

Mary, Loughton, Essex

David, London - it is not true landlords would have to pay 40% tax on their capital gains. There is what they call "taper relief" and other exemptions depending on how long the property has been owned etc.

James, London, UK

This is amazing! Tony Waller of Hammersmith: "If this is the way the revenue operates....."

It's collecting taxes. That's what it's for.

James, New York City,

Getting rid of the buy-to-let market wouldn't mean anyone has to live in a council house, it doesn't mean getting rid of the rental sector. As well as amateur buy-to-letters there are professional landlords, usually in the form of property management companies, who invest in buildings in order to make money off the rental income in the long term. They are far better for tenants than speculators hoping to make a quick buck off property inflation, in terms of commitment and investment for maintenance and also in terms of stability of the rental market. There are too many tricks buy-to-letters can use (my poor old mum needs to move in etc.) in order to boot tenants out when they can't be bothered anymore. Sensible government housing policy would involve encouraging such landlords, and also providing them with tax incentives to provide a certain number of apartments to low-income families, while making buy-to-let speculation unprofitable.

James, New York City,

Des demonstrates the type of moronic views that this government uses to justify a lot of its money grabbing policy with his oxymoron of 'wealth being redistributed from the poor to the rich' - are you a governemnt minister?

If people have deliberately avoided tax then rightly so they should pay up and probably be fined. The issue here as another poster pointed out is that the revenue are often vague and unhelpful in these matters and then when they do clarify things they say its also back dating this rule.

A lot of BTL owners are just trying to provide for themselves and their families rather than relying on the state for handouts. Can you really blame them wanting to provide for themsleves when the government seems to be quiet incapable of providing for us. The NHS being a great example of the tax, spend, waste mantra the Labour governemnt has given us that last 10 years!

Chris, London,

This is old news. The Times Newspaper run virtually the same story back in January 2007. The BTL market has a very low yield it is all about gearing and capital growth not income. The tax man would do better to Tax company cars by 3 times as much and we might get less traffic less pollution etc. It is barely worth investing in BTL at the moment. Certainly tax should be paid where it is due. But why waste all our tax money on Iraq and MP's expenses?

Peter, Macclesfield, Cheshire

While I don't agree with many of the derogatory sentiments expressed by people objecting to people for buy-to-let, I certainly think it is right that the state should try to limit this practice. To illustrate this, it currently costs not less than 200 thousand pounds for a one bed flat in Tooting, where I've rented for the past 6 years. Unfortunately I chose science as a career, and it appears now that only those who work in well-paid (usually finance) careers or couples can afford these sort of prices. You cannot deny that buying-to-let contributes to the price of houses, and it certain rankles with me that people with a spare wodge of cash lying around can lock up another potential house or flat so easily.

Nick Evans, London,

I share Tim Wood's suspicion of the "family" headline, but I think the reporter is innocent. Reading Elizabeth Colman's story, the word "family" never appears. A headline-writer has chosen to put an emotive spin on her copy, on the grounds that, although Ms Colman did not mention it, some investors and landlords have families.

Harriet, Manchester,

I am an independent mortgage broker, & am highly aware that many people fall into the trap of not earning enough to get on the housing ladder, & that renting is their only option. This again caused by the government's policies, allowing house prices to soar again whilst they are in power, & not thinking about ways to help those less well off. I suppose Gordy has got to get it from somewhere else to pay for all the Labour party's extraordinary junkets, and also inept staff who keep getting shifted from post to post. Reid, Hewitt, Beckett, Blunkett, to name a few, so with all the extra public services staff they have employed to sit and twiddle their thumbs, it's no wonder. I mean, they don't want to upset their final salary pension plans do they? Just tax the hard working earners who don't have this advantage. They don't have to worry if they muck-up, Stinks of " I'm alright Jock, It's only the plebs and their personal pension funds that have been eroded" This Labour has got it wrong.

Chris, Blandford Forum, Dorset

I never understood why people (Rosie Millard of The Times included) were so keen to view buy-to-lets as a pension substitute. A pension is a tax-free roll up vehicle and if you really wanted exposure to the UK property market there were always property funds and REITs. A buy-to-let isn't a tax free roll-up and with 40% tax on the capital gains that should have been the end of the argument. However, if people were simply evading capital gains tax and a proportion of the income tax due then I have no sympathy and they deserve to get burnt both on the tax front and for sticking their money into an undiversified investment. Usually I would support people being stung by Gordon for tax however, in this case their short-term fast buck tax evasion has left the rest of us picking up the tab in the form of Gordon's stealth taxes.

Mark Summers, Sevenoaks, UK

In Australia you can offset your financial costs against your income! This includes finance to buy shares as well as investment property. Picking on small investors is a cheap shot.

Morten Harket, Sydney, NSW

People have chosen to take control of their Financial Future and invest in property, instead of top up Pensions. Gordon, as we know, has changed laws not only to tax our pension funds yearly (Even though he wants us all to lift the burden from his shoulders) but to also stop us collecting pensions, our own private pensions, till 60 (I had mine set-up to kick in at 55, something I arranged 20yrs ago as I've seen many people die in their 60's)

If people do not declair rental income on their Tax forms, and I and many do, then they should be taxed, but rather than seeking to Vilify people who have taken steps to save for their old age, when is he going to bring in measures to ensure people who are heavily in debt or not saving for their future take responsability for their own savings.

In Summary, Most people invest in buy2lets because they have control, if the money is in savings or pensions, Gordon has demonstrated he can reach out and grab them, even if he has to change the law to

Phil, Weybridge, Surrey

Zero sympathy for any of these Buy To Let parasites. They should also be taxed on any capital appreciation of their so called portfolios. Go go Mr Taxman!

BM, Birmingham, UK

Why did the IR not do this 6 years ago or publish clear guidelines? Or is it more profitable to be retrospective and charge both interest and penalties?

Mike Hartley, Bristol, UK

If this is the way the revenue operate. It will simply return the rental market back to the the bad old days of rackman or corporate landlords.

Many investors take the financial risks witha buy to let and most are self employed who currently get a very poor return from just about everything compared to people in PAYE full time employment.
Pension schemes for self employed are pitiful and property is the only means of planning ahead. Yet again this government seems hell bent on blocking any attempts by ordinary people to secure their own future.
As usula all the get outs will exist for the super rich and corporations.
My own landlord has already said that she may well have to raise the rent by up to 40% if this is what happens. Many of us prefer to rent, but a block should be put on all new developments being rented. It just indicates the fact that what is being built is the wrong kind of development that people really want to live in.

tony waller, Hammersmith, London

Who gave Gavin the right to buy a home? Theses btl properties form an important part of the private letting market which gives people the opportunity to rent a decent new home. Also Gavin can you tell me how putting this extra tax into the public domain helps anyones ability to buy a home?

Richard, York, UK

So let me get this right, people -- sorry families -- who have been happily speculating with younger, poorer people's need for a basic human requirement, shelter, without bothering to check the paperwork and pay the requisite taxes, are somehow the victims in all this?

Hundreds of babyboomers hoping to goldplate their retirement, have priced out the younger generation from being able to have homes and families of their own, and inadvertantly created the lowest birthrate this nation has ever seen. Their pensions were far from worthless -- they just weren't as lucrative as the latest speculative bubble -- but thanks to the law of unintended consequences these investors have created an all too real pensions timebomb. Oh the irony. I wish them luck trying to find a carehome worker in the future. Why work hard to help society when you can just go into property development?

And for the record I'm the generation that won't have a house or a pension. I'm too busy paying for yours.

M, Cambridge, UK

Buy to Let Landlords should declare correctly their income and pay tax on the profits which thy make as per the current tax laws - No special treatment wanted to offered.

As for the persistent focus on this type of investment and the so called 'rights of others' to but homes which Buy to Let landlords have bought - What rubbish! For example Gavin in London as quoted above has no 'right to but a home' If he can't afford one then maybe he should address his own personal situation to rectify that situation rather than trying to blame others for his obvious short comings. We have a great eceonomy which is helped by the ability of individuals to improve their own situation by making profit from the commercial investments and risks that they make - So come on Gavin, stop blaming everyone else for your own shortcomings and get on with life!!

David, London, UK

Of course the capital element of a loan should not be tax deductible. If it was then we would all make profits by taking out loans and claiming relief on the repayments!

It seems a bizarre proposition in the context of e.g. a car loan but for some reason many people seem not to grasp the logic when applied to a BTL mortgage.

Richard, Manchester, UK

I keep hearing the the grey eyed monsters referring to BTL landlords as the rich.

Having worked hard to save enough for 2 BTL properties (on 80% mortgage), I would definately not class myself as rich considering each month/year I pump additional money for maintenance / payments.

Another great example of someone wanted to knock others for having a little success!

NP, London, UK

How interesting that the law being inforced is news nowadays. They evaded tax, they have to pay it, it shouldn't be news, it should be a matter of course.

I wish the government would build more council houses and encouraged housing organisations. That way the people who have to rent wouldn't get ripped off and have decent houses to come home to, rather than badly heated rabbit hutches without insulation.

starling, Lancaster,

This is not dictated by envy or by any other unproductive and negative feeling but I must say that I am not too worried about landlords or anybody else paying tax on their assets. If everybody paid their dues those on PAYE would not have to pay so much all the time. I am a 50 year old woman who always paid taxes +NI. I have always worked hard, holding a full time job while bringing up my daughter on my own. I have NEVER claimed or received any benefit from the State. On my salary alone I don't have a chance of ever buying my own home and neither can I pay the high rents in London so I have been forced to take on a living-in job as a domestic just to have a roof over my head. Second homes? Buy to Let? What's that?
I have never spent my salary on drink or cigarettes. I needed every penny just for the basic necessities of life, ie accomodation, bills, food (I did have an old Ford Escort when my daugher was young). Where did I go wrong?

M Liddell, London,

Angus is right - this is not a new tax. Most landlords would hire an accountant to ensure that the correct tax has been paid. However, in terms of capital gains tax this is only paid if a landlord sells his property. As the tax is so high at 40%, most landlords have no incentive to sell, and will keep hold of the properties. So, this high tax is distorting free market forces, reducing supply and pushing prices even higher. Under the normal rules of supply and demand, as prices rise owners would sell - this would in turn help to keep prices stable and house price inflation low. If they reduced this tax, more property would come onto the market and prices would come down. In the long term, the majority of buy to let properties will not become available again on the open market which will add to the housing crisis.

David, London,

If we had a flat rate tax system for everybody then there would be less issues like this to deal with. Also less civil servants making everyone's life a misery.

Come to think of it, we would also need less immigration as well because all the civil servants would be available for real jobs!!

John, Poole,

Barry, no one has the preference to rent if they can buy at a fair price. If investers want to get rich maybe they could try out exotic/vanilla options? But no, they don't have the brains to do so..

Des, London, Des

I invested in buy to let as a Pension investment after the Chancellor's tax grab on pensions in 1997. I decided to provide for myself knowing this government would grab back everything it can. Having spent like crazy on things like wars in Iraq and Afganistan, it is the tax payer who has to pay and now Brown wants even more and will grab whatever he can from wherever he can. The country should be given the opportunity to decide if we want more of Brown or not. The country did not vote for him to be PM

Adrian Nichols, Evesham, England

This isn't a tax grab - it is not new taxes being applied retrospectively. It is money that people should have paid in tax under tax law that existed at the time of the investment.

AndyN, Reading,

Is this not just shifting around the increase in money supply under this present government and the 167% of GDP we are in debt (the second (first) highest in the world)?

Pete Balchin , Bristol, uk

Des in London is suggesting that 'residential buy-to-lets should be banned'. As someone who has lived in a rented house for the last 10 years, I would be interested to learn where he would have me live... in a council house??

Dan, Lincs,

Buy to let was a very clever idea to kick start the housing market .However I personally believe that it will end in disaster. Most new buy to let landlords have bought using minimum deposit, have no spare monies for repairs and the repayment only works when the interest rate is abnormally low. The btl morgage insists that the rent must cover 120-130% of the morgage, for empty periods etc, which means rent has to be 20-30% higher for all to work. This has been more noticeable in new university areas where houseprices doubled over night caused by btl buyers scrambling to get on board, rents went up by 20-30% similarly. It is now getting harder to rent due to too many properties and mostly because the rents are too high. Property prices are based on rental income. Interest rates are rising, more properties on the market drop prices.
A soft landing? No chance.

Kenny, Hove,

Thank the Lord for the altruistic public service offered by buy-to-let investors.

Paul, Ripley,

The reason property prices have gone up is not buy to let...it is simply supply and demand.

The answer is to build more houses and apartments, by freeing up more land for building and hastening the planning process.

Too many nimbys, too many tree protection orders when planning applications are made, too many planning restrictions, to many busybody councillors who frankly haven't a clue.

Increase the supply of houses and flats and prices will fall, but the Gordon won't like that as it will almost certainly affect the rest of the economy......didn't Bill Clinton say "its the economy stupid"?

Anna, camberley,

Des has really hit the nail on the head here! Compel everyone - rich and poor, long term residents and recent immigrants, families and single people - to either live with their parents or relatives, buy their own property or live in council housing. We need more practical suggestions like this. john, exeter, england

Exactly. The privately rented sector is essential in every economy in the world. I own a buy-to-let London flat, always rented to foreign young professionals on short/medium term postings here, who do not qualify - and would not want - to buy a British home or receive council accomodation. Where would the hundreds of thousands of such people, essential to our economy and international diplomacy, live? London requires the flexibility of a huge stock of short and long term rentable homes. Of course these are businesses and should be taxed as such: my property income is audited professionally and fully taxed.

tom moncrieff, london, england

Council's sold their stock of social housing because they were too weak to control their spending to essential services only. Buy-2-Let covers that gap for people who cannot or will not buy their own property.

I am sick of hearing the bleaters who claim thet can't get onto the property ladder and it's B2L fault. I rented a tiny flat for 3 years, had 2 jobs and saved every penny to get a deposit for my first house. Give it a try instead of moaning that you can't afford it - based on your current lifestyle. You have a choice, work harder and make sacrifices for the longer term.

If you follow the rules it's quite simple. It is not complicated. You pay tax on the rent minus mortgage interest minus insurance minus maintenance.

Personally bring on the tax man. I have played by the rules and paid my tax - so have nothing to fear.

Si, Reading,

I have 2 buy to lets, they keep me in the property market while I work abroad. I've found that the people renting my them want to do just that, rent. Buying is not always an attractive option given the one off costs of buying and selling (several 1000s) and individual circumstances (living for a short period in the locality ). There is a need for quality rented accommodation that isn't social housing and traditionally there is a shortage of such housing in the UK which damages UK competitiveness.
Now landlords who over pay for property and get a low rate of return on their capital are foolish and in the end it will be they, and not the tenant , who will loose out when property prices fall.
So those who call for private residential lets to be banned are foolish since buy to lets fill a demand and the buyer takes the financial risk.
The real solution to the housing crisis is to build more property, not for state control on who owns the existing property.

jason white, Paris,

"One person: one home. Alan, Aberdeen"

That's exactly what it is. The people who live my B2L's have their home. It is one person one home.

They rent because they cannot afford to buy due to the lack of council provision of homes for the unemployed or they are migratory workers (British and European) who do not plan to live in one place for more than one year.

Should these people be forced to buy a house and sell it a year later at much greater cost (fees and stamp duty) just to satisfy some moral belief?

Some people have a very narrow view on the B2L market and the demand it caters for. and there is a massive demand for it.

What about students? Migrants? Temporary contract workers? Young people saving for a place of their own who don't want to live with mummy? The unemployed who cannot afford to buy? Bankrupts?

Suppose we should force them all not to rent because we don't believe in it? Or should we just give in to communism and let the state provide everyone's home?

Si, Reading,

This is a "middle class crime" so it will never be followed up. Buy-to-rent also creates more demand which pushes up house purchase prices to the detriment of other buyers.

Pete Boro, Cambs, UK

Why should the interest on 'buy-to-let' mortgages be tax relievable at the owners top rate of tax with no cap, but poor first time buyers have to pay the full amount now that MIRAS has been removed.

Tony Goodeve, Harpenden, Herts

Any responsible landlord will have nothing to worry about, but the Inland Revenue should come down on tax cheats like a tonne of bricks.

The tenancy deposit schemes will not show catch out the fraudsters who advertise in the local paper and take cash as payment. A small department dedicated to responding to these adverts and catching the crooks would pay for itself many times over in recovered tax.

Rob, London,

Most companies/people who have made a mistake in their deals have to live with it. How come the parasites in No 11 can 'claw back 6 years of tax' ? what makes these parasites so special?

Bill, Lonon, England

Oh dear, Gavin IS chippy - we earn our money and invest it how we see fit. End of discussion.

Gemma, London,

I can't agree at all with the comments that I have read, if private landlords (buy-to-let or other) are banned then who will tenants rent from? A lot of people choose or have to rent because of their circumstances. I have a 4 bedroom house rented by GB squad rowers - how would they get a mortgage when they live on lottery money? I have busy school head-teacher who is very happy renting from me. When the roof leaks or the boiler breaks I rush around and fix it for them. If I can't get there I call out my friendly plumber or handyman. If there was no demand, there would be no tenants. Rents have stayed much the same over the last ten years and that might show that the increased competition in the lettings market by buy-to-let landlords has allowed tenants to keep rents down by voting with their feet. Now there's democracy and a free market for you!

Andrew, London, UK

Yet another government initiative to tax people for the sake of it, and to fill massive ineefficiencies in government. If Gordon offered support to rectify the situation, i.e. the same as encouraging low income families to claim tax credits, landlords would be able to correct oversights as appropriate. For the government to suddenly 'get tough' is unreasonable and could result in otherwise honest people having to sell their investment (which they could have bought to offset the pension crisis) and give even more money to GB. yet again, another crazy Labour policy.

Kieran, Ilminster, Somerset

Well, well, well, as they say, it had to hit the fan sometime. Don't forget all of those people who have bought, improved the house and sold at a massive profit. There has to be quite a bit of tax due on that and some people have had an excellent tax free income from it all. I hope they are all made to pay up. They have in part been responsible for the massive hike in prices and the now lack of housing for our youngsters. I hope Brown makes his moves swiftly to stop these people moving on and avoiding payment. Places like Liverpool have been a speculators dream over the last six years much to the detriment of the local population. I wish the Chancellor good luck on this one.

Judy , Liverpool, england

If you claim the full mortgage payment against tax as a landlord, and that payment pays off some of the capital as well as the interest, then when you come to sell the property you have a greater capital gain (since you owe less on the mortgage).

On the basis that you then pay Capital Gains Tax at 40% on the larger sum, exactly how is Mr Brown losing out?

Richard , Nottingham, UK

Buy to let is an important cause of higher house prices

The government is currently building 185,000 homes a year (it was much less than this)

During 2006, Buy to Let investors bought 330,000 new properties! (Source: Council of Mortgage Lenders)

Buy to Let investors are currently buying nearly twice as many houses than are being built to tackle the crisis in housing affordability - no wonder it makes sense to ensure they are taxed fairly.

Matt, London,

Gary the only reason that the buy to let sector is so fruitful at the moment is because of the monetarist policies that the government has followed since Thatcher. It was she who said that the market would provide and not allow unfair rents to be paid; It was also Thatchers lot who stopped the councils from providing social hpousing and forced them to sell their housing stock and to establish the Housing associations that have now become much more than local ones. If you wanted a free market economy well enjoy it

John, London,

Given that so many decent hard-working people (teachers, nurses, anyone on less than 50k etc etc) cannot afford to buy a single house then the BTL brigade should not moan about paying what they owe and pay. I will help HMRC by reporting to them every single person who I believe has not paid the correct amount. I suggest that everybody priced out of the market should also do the same for the benefit of the majority. You can report people anonymously at the HMRC website. Give the names of all of your dodgy landlords and tax evading BTL braggers! Why should I pay my taxes whilst living in sub-standard housing whilst they dodge the tax and profit from the younger generations misery?

John Davies, Exeter, UK

Bear in mind that the revenue allowance is quite generous. You can deduct all interest (but not repayment), you can deduct fees, insurance, repairs, etc. Also if you have every lived in the property you can limit your capital gains tax liability.

In fact you should only be liable to tax, if your mortgage is not big enough. (Sadly my case)! Yield on rentals is 4-5%, so an 80% mortgage and some expenses would take care of most of it!

italian stallion, london,

Readers should be clear that this does not represent a "new" tax or even a "stealth" tax, it simply represents the application of long standing laws.

If the Treasury is more succesful in collecting tax due under existing legislation, there may be less need to introduce new legislation to raise more in tax.

To Ryan who said that "This "unpaid" tax is actually peoples money" then you are right. About 20% of it is our money, presumably in your pocket.

Bob, Reading,

I don't think the issue is the Exchequer being more socialist or anything. The point is that Buy to Let investors should be treated as any other investors in business, who have to pay capital gain tax as usual. I fail to see why Buy to Let investors should be treated any differently from other investors. Just because investments in property and incomes from them are harder to track and tax, it doesn't mean those landlords should be exempt from those taxes.
Perhaps the lack of tax accountablility in Buy to Let market has make it more attractive to invest in property than other form of investments, hence distort the market?
In my opinion, there are clearly alot of tax avoidance in the buy to let market.

Alex, London,

I must also add that due to the vastly inflated houseprices my adult son has no chance of buying property in the UK (and thus has a hugely improved quality of life in Berlin, Germany); I would be happy to help him out with my house in Edinburgh, but cannot risk that since it represents a considerable part of my pension provision.

Really, we are quite buggered in the UK.

Beate, vilnius, Lithuania

Can we clear something up here ? My understanding is that the interest component of any repayment on a buy to let mortgage, whether 'capital repayment' or 'interest only', is allowable for tax. In other words if your monthly installments on a capital repayment mortgage is GBP100 and GBP90 of that is interest and GBP10 is capital... then the GBP90 is allowable for tax. Is my understanding correct ?

David, London, UK

Good thing too. I don't generally like this government's tax regime, but I see no reason why 'astute investors' should hog all the housing and prevent millions who would like to own their own home from doing so!

And they certainly should not be evading tax!

On this one Gordon, for once, I'm with you!

Steve, London, UK

Obviously buy to let can't be "banned" in a free country, but the income received can be properly and equitably taxed - this would deter many buy to let landlords and would help to rebalance the housing market. However - what's the bet that the Inland Revenue won't be efficient enough to collect the tax?

D Cittern, LONDON,

Hang on. What's the problem with Gordon Brown claiming tax that should have been paid but hasn't been paid? Taxes fund the NHS etc, etc, etc, and if people aren't paying what they have always been required to pay, then the IR (or Gordon Brown) have not only the right but the responsibility to chase payment so that the rest of society is not short changed.

This is not a new tax - it's just one that hasn't been properly paid by people. Very little controversy here at all.

Angus, London, UK

People like Gavin have not considered that the Government's continuing criminal tax-raid on the pension funds actually forced many soon-to-be retirees to buy into property in order to sustain themselves in retirement. Speaking as a buy-to-let Landlord, it would be a lot easier for me, at age 56, not to have the aggravation and stress of having to manage other properties just to make ends meet. Having a buy-to-let property isn't about greed, it's about survival without being a burden on others.

Brian, Farnborough, Hampshire

Like I said earlier, how on earth could the chosen Liebour live in retirement, (what most of them do while holding positions in government now, twiddle thumbs, junkets, etc), get them out as soon as possible, get the Tories back in with Hague at the helm. We don't need "pussy footer's"(as nice as he is) like David Cameron, spoiling the chance we now have. We need someone with conviction, someone with balls.

Chris, Blandford Forum, Dorset

I would like to see holiday lets taxed in the same way as residential lets. If you can afford a holiday home and make it available for letting 150 days a year, let it for 70 of those days (who checks!!??) you are only liable for CGT on 25% of your profit after 2 years ownership. Owners of residential lets are still liable for tax on 60% of profits after 10 years ownership. Who would have thought a Labour government would be so soft on second home owners!

Sue Bright, Dartmouth, UK

Our salaries perhaps should be paid directly to the government who in turn, once they have taken what they need, simply forward the loose change back to us?

The problem with so-called social housing is... the houses are way too expensive, we have several 'shared ownership' flats and houses in this area that have been empty for well over a year, why is that?

This is now a 'money- for -nothing' nation..live with it.

Ian , Ashtead, UK (and it is in a state!)

Private landlords provide a valuable service where the government, and its agencies, have failed to adequately invest in social housing.

There needs to be a profit motive to incentivise landlords to invest, however, landlords must take their responsibilities seriously by delivering their side of the contract and paying their taxes.

The bottom line is that there would be far fewer private landlords out there if Gordon Brown had not been stealing £5bn a year from our pension funds since 1997!!

Gary, London,

The last time I checked, the UK was a capitalist democracy. It is within every individual's right to make a profit by legal means, what's "anti-social" about that?

Mary, London,

and how about the "light touch" of Mr. Roy-Chowdhury? I bet buy-to-let investors know exactly how the taxation system work and if they don't pay enough then more than welcome are the taxman actions, regardelss of the "attempts to extract as much tax as possible to boost revenue for the Exchequer"...
Nowaday there are so many sources of information and anyone fancying investments should be well aware of tax implications before starting.

Teo, London,

I am not a buy to let investor but I can't believe the backward thinking socialist rhetoric expressed in many of the comments here.Why is it such a crime to make money by investing wisely.I agree that all appropri