Jeremy Hunt’s recent Spring Budget hid a ‘steal tax’ on landlords seeking to sell properties after April 1st, it has been claimed.

Letting agency Hamptons says Hunt’s changes to the annual capital gains personal allowance will see 89% of higher-rate and 100% of lower-rate taxpaying landlords who sell a property for a profit will see their capital gains tax (CGT) bill rise in April.  

This is because the annual CGT personal allowance is being reduced from £12,300 in 2022/23 and £6,000 in 2023/24 to £3,000 in 2024/25.

Hamptons says this will offset the CGT rate cut from 28% to 24% announced in the Budget for most higher-rate taxpaying landlords who sell.  

When the Spring Budget was revealed in parliament, many commentators said the measure would lead to more landlords selling up.

Stealth tax

But in practice the ‘stealth tax’ will mean that a higher-rate taxpaying landlord reporting a capital gain of less than £68,000 will find themselves worse off than two years ago.

This will include newer landlords and those with lower-value properties who tend to make smaller gains when they sell up.

“Although the Chancellor made it clear he was hoping to encourage landlords to sell up and add new housing supply into the market for first-time buyers, the reality is that the capital gains tax changes taken as a whole will likely act as a disincentive,” says Aneisha Beveridge, Head of Research at Hamptons.

“[That’s because] most landlords leaving the market this year will end up paying more tax than two years ago, not less.

“Older investors who’ve been landlords for longer and have accumulated bigger gains are much more likely to benefit from the tax cut.”