By PrimeResi.
As the time nears for the Spring Budget 2024 announcement, Black Brick boss Camilla Dell shared what she hopes to be revealed in the statement.
At Black Brick, we have never been ones to shy away from giving an honest assessment of the political and economic landscape — and ahead of the Spring Budget 2024, our founder and Managing Partner Camilla Dell shared her frank expectations with PrimeResi.
The mood going into Budget day was one of cautious and somewhat resigned realism. As Camilla noted, many in the property industry were quietly hoping for a meaningful intervention — a last-ditch attempt by the Conservative government to win back public support through tangible tax relief. But with the UK having entered recession in the final quarter of 2023, the scope for giveaways was always going to be severely limited. As Camilla put it directly: she simply could not see what the Conservatives had left to give away on tax.
The deeper frustration, however, runs beyond any single Budget. The property market has absorbed a sustained series of tax increases and regulatory burdens since the Conservatives came to power — changes that, taken together, have created significant friction across the entire housing system. Stamp duty, in Camilla’s view, has reached levels that are genuinely prohibitive, creating a substantial drag on transaction volumes and preventing many people from moving up or down the housing ladder as their circumstances change. A simpler, fairer system — one that facilitates rather than obstructs mobility — is long overdue.
The buy-to-let sector tells a similarly troubling story. The cumulative weight of regulatory red tape placed on private landlords has driven many out of the market entirely, with the entirely predictable — if perhaps unintended — consequence of dramatically reduced rental supply. In London, rents have risen by double digits over recent years as a direct result. The people paying the price for these policy decisions are not wealthy landlords but ordinary tenants, many of whom are already stretched to their limits.
At Black Brick, we will continue to advocate for a property tax system that is proportionate, transparent and genuinely supportive of a healthy, functioning housing market — and to help our clients navigate whatever the policy environment delivers.
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