Editor's note: This brief was summarised by The Property AI Team from a report by Property118. Read the original article for full details.
Landlords Urged to Sell Before Christmas as Tax Rise Looms
With the dust settling after the Budget and Christmas approaching, some landlords may feel it is time to sell, especially with markets already pricing in higher interest rates in 2027. The Budget announced a further two-percentage-point rise in property income tax rates from April 2027, on top of the increase announced last year.
Property118 reports that rising costs, around 70% of challenged rent increases being reduced at tribunal, and campaigners encouraging tenants to contest even modest rises to prolong delays are among the factors prompting some landlords to question whether their money would work harder in a high-interest savings account. The government expects the latest tax rise to have only a small impact on rents, but landlords are also thinking about what it means for their own costs. One Property118 reader criticised the government “for increasing the costs that landlords have to bear”.
For letting agents and inventory clerks, the article highlights a potential increase in portfolio sales activity as landlords consider exiting before the tax change takes effect. The report suggests that landlords already thinking about selling one property, part of their portfolio or the whole lot could turn those plans into an agreed sale before Christmas.
The article is published by Property118 and written by David Coughlin of Landlord Sales Agency, which describes itself as having a private database of over 30,000 buyers and typically achieving 85–90% of market value. It includes a case study of a Property118 landlord named Shirley who sold four rental properties and said: “It worked very smoothly. You found me a buyer really quickly who was a landlord of some 20 years’ experience. You managed to get a deal together for us. Of course, in selling in that way, I had to take a little bit of a cut and that was fine by me because it meant that I wasn’t paying mortgages for 18 months while I was waiting for properties to sell with tenants scared away.”
Source: Property118