Brendan Burgess
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Rents are at a record high – so why are private landlords selling up?
Smart Money: For every two landlords selling, only one is buying
Good article by Cliff Taylor quoting research by Amárach
A recent survey from the RTB, completed by Amárach, shows that while there is not a flood of landlords planning to leave, there is a steady stream. Among smaller landlords with one to two properties, just over one quarter plan to sell a property within the next five years, and around 10 per cent within one year. Very few – just 6 per cent – intend to reinvest in buying more property. Rural landlords were more likely to sell than those in Dublin.
Among the reasons given were the difficulty some found in making a profit, with one in four saying their income was less than their cost. The factors quoted as negatives includded taxes, with landlords complaining that deductions for expenditure which they could make against their tax bill had tightened in recent years. Meanwhile rental income for most is exposed to tax at a marginal rate of 50 per cent plus, as the vast bulk are part-time landlords with other earnings.
More onerous regulations were also blamed by some – seen as tilting the balance too far towards tenants and restricting annual rent increases inside rental pressure zones in the cities. Meanwhile given the generally older age of landlords, some were planning to sell to fund their retirement.