There is resounding new evidence that buy-to-let investors are ramping up activity as they try to beat the April 1 Stamp Duty surcharge deadline.
Also, more individuals appear to have turned themselves into companies in order to be exempt from an earlier clampdown announced by George Osborne last year.
According to specialist broker Mortgages for Business, limited companies accounted for 43% of all buy-to-let cases in January – up from 38% at the start of the year.
Overall buy-to-let applications were up 27% in January from the month before.
From April 1, a 3% Stamp Duty Land Tax surcharge will be levied on the purchasers of second homes, including buy-to-let properties.
Also looming is the start of the phased introduction by which landlords’ ability to offset mortgage interest against tax is to be cut to the lowest rate. However, buy-to-let companies will be exempt from this.
