New Tory think tank urges Theresa May to launch buy-to-let crackdown
2 min read
Theresa May has been urged to get tough on buy-to-let landlords in a bid to solve Britain’s housing crisis.
In a report, new Conservative think tank Onward calls for an end to landlord tax breaks and says London councils should get new powers to curb foreign ownership of properties.
The group also floats plans for local communities to be given some of the proceeds when councils grant lucrative planning permission to developers, which Onward estimates can add up to £2.5m to the value of land.
The report has been drawn up by Tory MP Neil O'Brien, a former adviser to Mrs May, who said Government needed to "change the balance between the rented sector and home ownership".
"We should protect existing landlords but discourage more people from investing in rental property, because the buy-to-let boom has bid up prices and reduced homeownership among younger people," he told the Guardian.
Mr O'Brien is also calling on Mrs May to build half a million new flats and houses for workers aged under 40, with hefty discounts of up to a fifth off market value.
His report meanwhile urges greater security for renters, calling for tenancies of up to ten years and half a million new Government-backed 'stepladder loans' to help young people overcome the hurdle of paying a house deposit.
"If we’d kept the balance between rented and owner-occupied properties the same since 2000 we’d now have over two million more families owning their own home," he told The Sun.
