I am booked to attend an online meeting with the ACCA and wealth managers on the topic: “Property vs Pension: how to generate an income in later life” on 7 October 2021 at 12 noon.
I’m aware this is a hot issue and I am therefore inviting questions from anyone reading this, which I will pass on to the organisers of the meeting. Please get all your questions to me by 30 September 2021. It does not matter if they seem silly or obvious. I cannot guarantee that they will all be dealt with in the meeting, however, I will make the point when passing them on that they represent genuine concerns of owner-managed business and should therefore be taken seriously.
If e-mailing I suggest you send the questions to info@jrhandco.co.uk.
It is OK for you to submit a question if you are not a client of the practice.
In this connection I saw an article in the Spectator of 11 September 2021, arising from the changes in NIC and tax to pay for social care (of which I have more to say in a separate piece) which I feel is worth a read. It’s called “The assetocracy; why politicians are competing to bribe the affluent”. The fact that I am referring to the article should not be taken as agreement with its conclusions.
Here are a few quotes; “The asset boom that started at the turn of the century has transformed the finances of families across the country, turning modest-income retirees into unexpected millionaires: a new “assetocracy”. Homeowners have to sell to access the money, but their children can expect to inherit life-changing amounts…… Wealth has become concentrated in a group of people who now decide British elections….. At each election, parties compete to bribe this demographic….. The Tories are quite literally increasing the tax on care-home workers on minimum wage to better insulate the wealth of the people they care for.”
I repeat, I do not read the Spectator because I agree with it – quite the reverse. I read it because it is a long-standing magazine of political comment that is read, and taken seriously, by people who have a say in making economic policy.
I expect that, if we have a change of Government, we could perhaps see the introduction of a Wealth Tax – starting with a levy on properties that you own but don’t live in, and then perhaps extending to all residential property worth more than, e.g. £2 million. If the new Government wishes to put the cat further among the pigeons, then it may hypothecate the monies raised by the Wealth Tax to benefit young people, for example reducing or abolishing university tuition fees or else levying lower rates of tax and NI to those under 30. If it fancies sending in the pigeon-hawks as well as the cat, then it might also impose statutory rent controls such that no property may be rented out for more than X per cent of the wage of working people in the town.
I doubt that the new Government would be Labour. It may be that a new party might be formed called the Renters’ Party which would focus its attention on getting a better deal for people paying rent, perhaps including small business tenants as well as residential tenants.
If the above actually happens – you heard it here first!
I shall have more to say after the meeting, God willing. In the meantime, if you have any specific questions on action you might want to take please contact us for advice.