LATEST: Gove hints at fairer tax rules for landlords in return for more regulation

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Housing Secretary Michael Gove has dropped a hint that he could be willing to consider tax concessions for landlords.

Speaking in the Commons during a Budget debate, he told MPs that the government needed to make sure there was fairness in the tax treatment of landlords before legislative changes were made to the sector, including the abolition of section 21.

He said if there was to be a pipeline of affordable private rented homes, supply also needed to improve, particularly in London, working in partnership with Mayor Sadiq Khan.

He again dismissed the idea of rent controls in England. “A rent freeze, while often attractive, has the effect, as we have unfortunately seen in Scotland, of reducing the supply of rented homes,” said Gove, responding to MP Jeremy Corbyn, who told the House that rising private rents was hitting inner-city areas hard.

“The greed and profit-taking by some private sector landlords continues unabated,” said Corbyn. “If we are to deal with the housing crisis, it means rent control and investment in council housing.”

Holiday lets

The Secretary of State also announced plans to restrict the number of holiday lets as part of new legislation. He acknowledged: “There is a problem in the private rented sector…where homes are being turned into Airbnbs and holiday lets in a way that impedes the capacity of young workers to find a place where they can stay in the locale that they love and contribute to the economy of which they wish to be part.”

Added Gove: “We will be bringing forward some planning changes to the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill which are intended to ensure that we have restrictions over the way that homes can be turned into Airbnbs.”

Read more about holiday lets.

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