Development excluded from interest limitation rules

Last week the Government released the consultation materials for their proposed changes to interest deductibility to “encourage more sustainable house prices, by dampening investor demand for existing housing stock to improve affordability for first-home buyers”. 

Amongst a myriad of suggestions, the Government has proposed that property development and new builds would be exempt from the interest limitation rules, and that community housing providers will not be affected by the interest limitation rules if they are charities or otherwise tax exempt. 

Property Council has been advocating as part of our Build-to-Rent campaign that BTR-type developments should be exempted to encourage this new asset class. Interestingly, there is only one mention of Build-to-Rent in the whole document and does not cover owners from on-selling. 

We will be submitting on their consultation document, and we are restarting the Tax Working Group.

If you are interested in helping shape our submission, then please get in touch.