BLT 'greed' forces FTBs out
Paul Diggory, vice president of the Chartered Institute of Housing, has said that buy to let landlords are forcing first time buyers out of the housing market by buying up quantities of stock.Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Money Box programme, Paul Diggory said that the government needs to tackle the problem of the increasing number of landlords who purchase properties on buy to let mortgages only to leave them empty.This sort of move results in fewer affordable houses on the market, coupled with increased demand, which forces increased inflation in house prices."Our main concern is the acute lack of affordable housing right across the UK, and we've got many examples now in major cities where properties are not actually being let, they're being secured on buy to let mortgages, but they're being kept empty," Mr Diggory explained."I mean there are examples in places like Leeds, Manchester and London where whole floors of apartment blocks are being secured by investors in this way, and that's a major concern for us."I think everybody recognises that affordable housing has become something of a crisis really in the country. There are so many people, particularly young people, who just cannot access the housing market."Mr Diggory said that ending tax relief for buy to let landlords might go some way to alleviating the situation.
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