Tax changes drive fall in buy-to-let

INVESTMENT: The number of investment properties being bought has halved since April 2016, according to research by My Home Move, and numbers could fall further thanks to new tax rules that came into force this week as well as the extra three per cent stamp duty now levied on extra homes. Doug Crawford, CEO of My Home Move said: “While investors were choosing to back-off on buying additional properties, the number of gifted deposits was rising at a rate of around one per cent. I suspect parents, who would have bought a second home, have redirected their savings to help their children onto the property ladder.”