Rent payments have now overtaken mortgage payments

Savills have recently reported that in the last year they estimate rental payments have totalled approximately £74.8bn while mortgage payments were estimated at £73.2bn.

They also report that private Landlords own more housing equity than owner occupiers with the figures being £1,077bn against £!,067bn.  However, the amount of property owned outright stands at an estimated £2,097bn.

In a separate report Savills state that a house worth £66,110 in 1995 is today worth an estimated £262,847.  

Currently less than 6% of local government wards have average house prices of under £100,000 compared with 88% in 1995.

Huge fines for tax evasion Landlord

A Landlord has recently been fined a massive £283,886, been given a two year suspended sentence, ordered to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work and pay £1,500 in costs following tax evasion charges.  It was alleged that the defendant had failed to pay tax on rental income on his ten properties in the London area covering a period of 5 years.  If the fine is not paid within 3 months he has been warned he will face 3 years in prison.

HMRC decided to carry out a full investigation into College principle Macdonald Abambas affairs following a crackdown on Landlords in the area.  Mr Abamba was given the opportunity re repay the tax, which he had used to buy further property abroad, but failed to do so.  HMRC then launched a criminal investigation and the defendant was charged with cheating the public revenue, under common law.  Once the case got to court Mr Abamba pleaded guilty.

#John Cooper, assistant director, Fraud Investigation Service at HMRC, said: “Abamba should have done the right thing by declaring this income. He was given the opportunity to come clean and pay what he owed but he chose to ignore it.

“He now has a criminal record, has ruined his reputation and must rightfully repay the money he stole, plus interest, within three months or face real jail time.

“The majority of us pay the tax that’s due, when it’s due, and it is unfair that people like Abamba think they have the right to steal money that is needed to fund vital public services.

“We know that some landlords are unsure of their tax liabilities which is why we launched the Let Property campaign, but this man clearly knew what he was doing and continued anyway.”

Its official! UK property selling at record prices

The Office for National Statistics has this week revealed that the average house price in the UK has now reached £288,000, breaking the previous record.  The average price across England now stands at £302,000.  This figure is somewhat confirmed by Rightmove who reported this week that the average price of new properties to the market is £290,963.

The ONS also report that in November annual house price inflation was 8.3% in England, 0.4% in Scotland, 4.6% in Northern Ireland and 1.3% in Wales.  The biggest regional rise was the east of England at 10.2% followed closely by the south-east and London at 9.8%

Head of lending at Mortgage Advice Bureau, Brian Murphy said “House prices in November saw the biggest annual increase in eight months, despite traditionally being a quieter time in the housing market.
“Those lucky enough to already be on the property ladder are the clear winners of this boom, as home owners trading up to the next rung take advantage of improving property values. Increased equity means even those not looking to sell can benefit by switching to a more affordable mortgage deal.
“The heat is set to rise in the buy-to-let and second home market in the short-term, as buyers rush to complete before the changes to Stamp Duty kick in in April.
“In the long term, the dearth of properties available combined with rampant demand means house price growth isn’t likely to slow any time soon.

“This creates clear affordability concerns for first-time buyers.”