Landlords in 13% of the country will be paying stamp duty for the first time since their properties are worth less than £125,000.
London and South East landlords will need 20 months of rent to pay for stamp duty once the 3% surcharge comes into force from 1 April, LendInvest analysis has found.
Landlords in 13% of the country will be paying stamp duty for the first time, since their properties are worth less than £125,000.
Darlington, Halifax and Doncaster will be the worst affected areas with the most properties subject to stamp duty for the first time.
Christian Faes, co-founder and chief executive of LendInvest, said: “The stamp duty hike spells bad news for landlords - and their tenants. Put simply: when taxes rise, someone has to pay.
“Our latest BTL Index shows that the likely payer is ultimately going to be the tenant, with higher rents. The Stamp Duty Land Tax hike will cause rental yields to fall for landlords, putting pressure on them to raise the rents they charge.”
LendInvest found that 86% of first-time stamp duty payers will be in the North East or North West, where 12 out of 14 postcode areas have average house prices under £125,000.
Inner London landlords need twice as many months of rent to repay higher stamp duty than some Outer London counterparts, although Outer London landlords will experience a greater percentage increase in the cost of stamp duty.
Those in Tunbridge Wells, Dartford and Romford will see it rise by more than 300% for example.
Faes added: “It’s not just in Inner London, where landlords’ taxes will soar, that we can expect to see landlords and tenants squeezed financially. The Index shows that all across England and Wales, we will many landlords factoring several thousands of pounds of stamp duty tax into their budgets for the first time.
“Towns like Sunderland, Blackburn, Wigan and Oldham could be particularly badly impacted: here, rental yields are comparatively good but average house prices are below £125,000 meaning SDLT will be imposed for the first time.
“The Treasury’s decision to inflict this tax hike is part of their longer-term plan to professionalise the buy-to-let market and make Britain a country of homeowners.
“While the mission has its merits, there are no quick fixes to the nationwide housing crisis. Until there are more houses on the streets that people can buy at reasonable prices, landlords have their place and their tenants must be protected.”
