Spring statement offers nothing for landlords or tenants

Today’s Spring Statement was a missed opportunity to address the chronic supply crisis in the private rented sector.

NRLA Chief Executive Ben Beadle said Chancellor Rachel Reeves has done nothing to address issues exacerbating the rented housing crisis, despite figures from property portal Zoopla showing there are now an average of 12 renters chasing every available home to rent.

Responding to a recent Parliamentary question, Treasury Minister, Emma Reynolds admitted ‘rental prices are ultimately determined by the total supply of housing, relative to demand’, giving hope the Government might take some action to support landlords and tenants.

However, disappointingly, the statement ignored these entirely.

Ben said: “Today’s statement was a missed opportunity to support renters across the country.

“It has done nothing to tackle the chronic shortage of rental housing to meet demand.

“It has done nothing to reform a broken tax system which is failing to encourage and support investment in energy efficiency improvements.  

“And it has done nothing to address the unjust freeze on housing benefit  which is leaving so many renters fearful of how they will afford their rents.”

Making Tax Digital

Elsewhere the Chancellor announced a number of updates on its Making Tax Digital (MTD) programme, which will impact some landlords, including:

• Reducing the qualifying income threshold for MTD for Income Tax to £20,000 from April 2028. Landlords with income above £50,000 will join MTD from April 2026, and those with income above £30,000 from April 2027.
• Confirmation that MTD for Income Tax users will need to submit their end of year information and final declaration/tax return using software, and will not be able to use other methods. The Government suggests this announcement will stimulate the development of more products for customers to meet this requirement.
• Outlining the exemptions for a small number of taxpayers who would face disproportionate barriers in operating MTD, and a later introduction for small groups of taxpayers whose tax arrangements would require bespoke features within MTD. These will require further design and legislation, which will come ahead of the 2026 implementation date.

More information

• The treasury's full document, alongside the Chancellor's speech can be found here.
• Watch our public affairs manager Ellie Bateman outline all the major announcements affecting the sector in the video below.