We all know that the UK is facing a “critical rental shortage” which requires a building scheme to focus on providing for tenants, Rics has repeatedly stated .At least 1.8 million more households will be looking to rent rather than buy a home by 2025, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) claims. It is not just new builds but even HMO property.  It has called on the government to offer tax breaks to encourage building and investment in the sector.The Conservative Party has indicated its focus remains on home ownership. However the irony is with Stamp Duty. The number of UK households renting property rose from 2.3 million in 2001 to 5.4 million in 2014, according to Rics. Now it seems that there are less Buy to let landlords and higher prices on rents.  “Tenants will be hurt most, as landlords recover the stamp duty increase by charging tenants more,” said David Cox, the managing director of the Association of Residential Letting Agents (ARLA). “The simple answer is that we need to build more homes.” Myself and JV partners are looking to start our first new build project. I had built in the US for years affordable housing. However that experience is minor as build in the UK is so much different.

Currently it is a battle between Landlords versus first time buyers. Rics suggests that the stamp duty increase should be reversed, a move which would infuriate potential first-time buyers – many of whom say they are regularly outbid by buy-to-let investors.

In addition to a reversal in the stamp duty increase, Rics also called for:

  • Private house builders to be encouraged to build specifically for the rental sector
  • Pension funds to be given tax breaks to fund large scale rental properties
  • Councils to be encouraged to release brownfield sites for building homes for tenants

Rics’ call comes just a day after the Home Office said the government would take “unprecedented steps” to encourage construction of homes for people to buy. Among the plans announced was an Accelerated Construction scheme, using £2bn of new public sector borrowing to make public land with outline planning permission available to builders.

I think as property investors we look further into new builds.