The Chancellor, Alistair Darling, recently gave his pre-budget report, but are landlords and property investors going to be any better off? 

Sadly he dealt the news that the stamp duty holiday (http://www.investment-properties-for-sale.co.uk/2009/11/20/last-chance-to-take-advantage-of-stamp-duty-holiday/) would officially be coming to an end on 1^st January 2010. It’s helped so many people to save money with the purchase of properties, and helped prevent the property market from becoming stagnated during 2009, so it’s a great shame to see it go. It will return to the usual level, of buyers having to page 1% stamp duty fees on all properties priced at £125,000 or over. 

On a more positive note, the Chancellor announced details of a new boiler scrappage scheme – similar to the popular car scrappage scheme – that will be introduced early in 2010. Although details are sketchy at the moment, it will enable people who have old boilers with a G rating (the lowest efficiency level) to trade them in for £400 towards the cost of a new boiler or renewable heat unit.  

As boilers account for up to 60 per cent of emissions in the UK, it will not only give homes a more efficient boiler, but also help the environment too. It could also help landlords cope with the hefty cost of installing new boilers. It sounds promising, so we’re looking forward to hearing more details in due course about this scheme. 

For more details about the pre-budget report, see http://prebudget.treasury.gov.uk/

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