Nearly half (46%) of homeowners supported the surcharge and just one in five (18%) opposed it. The rest were neutral (20%) or didn’t know (15%).
Homeowners have backed the 3% stamp duty surcharge despite strong landlord opposition, a poll conducted by YouGov on behalf of Homeowners Alliance and BLP Insurance has revealed.
Nearly half (46%) of homeowners supported the surcharge and just one in five (18%) opposed it. The rest were neutral (20%) or didn’t know (15%).
Supporters of the surcharge saw it as a good way of levelling the playing field between those buying a home to live in and investors.
One said: “The buy-to-let market is slowly destroying the overall housing market and making affordable properties less available for those wanting to own a home as their principal place of residence.”
Those who opposed the surcharge expected it to result in higher rents for tenants while others thought it unfairly harms savers.
One comment was: “I have been saving for some time (five years) to be able to afford to purchase an investment property.
“This change has now meant that it is not feasible for me to do so. It is unfair to penalise people who work hard and save.”
The government has also proposed reducing the amount of mortgage tax relief landlords can claim back from 45% to 20% from 2017 to 2020.
A landlord campaign led by Platinum Property Partners has launched to fight the buy-to-let crackdown and has so far raised £91,000 to challenge the government in court.
