ROOF Blog

The Chancellor should double the tax relief on income made from renting out a spare room when he delivers his pre-Budget report on 9 December, according to the National Landlords Association.

The NLA hopes that Alistair Darling can be persuaded to raise the tax-free ‘rent-a-room’ threshold from its current level of only £4,250 – a level it has remained at since being introduced in 1997.

Since that time, rents have more than doubled in most parts of the country, shrinking the value of the original income threshold.

The NLA is one of several organisations supporting the Raise the Roof campaign, which is lobbying for an increase to £9,000 per year.

‘Raising the tax-free threshold for live-in landlords would provide an important boost to homeowners who are facing difficulties meeting their mortgage payments,’ said Chris Norris, NLA policy manager.

‘For many, the extra rental income really could mean the difference between paying the mortgage and losing their home.’

Tenants who receive local housing allowance (LHA) will be able to choose to have their rent money paid directly to their landlord if the Conservatives win next year’s general election. Grant Shapps, shadow housing minister, will announce today at the Crisis national conference in Birmingham that a Conservative government will revert to the way housing benefits were handled before last year’s government reforms, which are due to be reviewed before April 2010. Shapps is expected to say that the current system is deterring landlords from renting property to tenants receiving LHA: ‘Fearful that rent money may never be paid, some landlords routinely include the words ‘No HB’ in their ads, further restricting the supply of housing for affordable rent.’