The weekend newspapers are full of predictions ahead of Wednesday's spring budget, including the line that UK Chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, 'will unveil a £300 million raid on holiday lets'.
The Sunday Times said: 'The chancellor is to launch a tax raid on second-home owners who make money from holiday lets in an attempt to make the sums add up. He will abolish a series of tax perks for landlords who rent out their properties to short-term holidaymakers rather than long-term tenants.'
The article continued: 'Although it represents another tax grab by the Conservatives, Hunt will argue it will help tackle the housing shortage in coastal areas and holiday hotspots, such as Cornwall and the Lake District, where landlords are converting to holiday lets to benefit from generous tax perks, depriving local people of housing.'
The growth of short-term rentals in the UK in recent years has been partly driven by the Conservative government's introduction of Section 24 legislation, which prevented mortgage interest from being a fully tax deductible expense. It is speculated a similar solution might be implemented for short-term rentals – referred to as 'furnished holiday lets' by the government.
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