Landlords have had it too good for too long

Your correspondents again tell us that the loss of tax deductibility for interest paid on property investment will lead to landlords raising rents.

This spurious bit of nonsense is trotted out over and over by those with a political axe to grind or financial interest to pursue. It is simply not true. It assumes that landlords are not getting all that the current market can and will pay — a highly doubtful proposition.

Then we come to the fairness of the taxation change. Borrow to invest in company shares, bonds, gold, Bitcoin or absolutely anything other than domestic property and you have never been entitled to tax deductibility on interest payments.

But it’s worse than that because if you borrow to buy a house for yourself and your family you too get no such tax deductibility. The taxation exemption granted to property investors has played a large part in screwing the scrum in their favour.

The Government has demonstrated some gumption and made overdue changes to help restore sanity and fairness to the housing market. I say, well done — now, what next?

Geoff Prickett, Waikanae.