The amount of tax higher rate landlords can claim back will be gradually reduced from 40% to 20% from April 2017 to 2020 – but just 8% of the landlords contacted by the BOI said this will influence how they invest.
Property analyst Kate Faulkner found the study hard to believe however, as she has spoken to a number of landlords who are concerned about the crackdown.
She said: “From my experience landlords are worried about the changes, hence why there is a petition to get the government to look at it again.
“It’s going to affect people coming into buy-to-let rather than existing landlords who are typically in it for capital growth.
“If you buy a property today as a higher rate taxpayer it’s hard to be cashflow positive even without those tax relief changes.
“The ones who aren’t concerned may be the lower rate taxpayers.”
The UK public still trust in property investments, as seven in 10 (70%) reckoned buy-to-let will outperform other forms of investments such as shares/equities and government bonds in the long-term.
Some British landlords see problems in China and the Eurozone as a positive, as a third (30%) reckoned it represents all the more reason to invest in the UK market.
Mark Howell, director of marketing & customer management, Bank of Ireland UK Mortgages said: “This sixth wave of our quarterly survey has shown that confidence in the B2L market remains robust, despite news stories in the press which might have suggested otherwise.
“It is a sign of the current economic climate that many are seeing BTL as a prime investment – and that they believe it will outperform all other forms of investments”
