Fears over fire sale of UK property

Fears are growing today regarding a possible fire sale of UK property assets as the UK government looks to increase capital gains tax charges. It is believed the government will increase the flat rate from 18% for non-business assets to anywhere in the region of 40% to 50%. It is unlikely that the capital gains tax changes would come into effect immediately and we could see a fire sale of UK properties in the short to medium term.

Despite the fact that the Conservative party itself would never have considered such a change in the capital gains tax legislation it seems as though this is the price the government is paying for assistance from the Liberal Democrat party. While details are fairly sketchy at the moment and nothing has been confirmed by official channels it is believed that an increase in capital gains tax for non-business assets is imminent.

This is likely to be the first of a number of changes in the UK taxation system as the new coalition government looks to increase tax income and reduce the budget deficit. Nobody is quite certain how this will pan out in due course but changes are certainly afoot.