I’m a landlord – Rachel Reeves has put a target on my back

Kay Bickley has laid into the Chancellor (Image: Kay Bickley)

A landlord has vented her fury at Rachel Reeves, saying she has painted a target on her back. The Chancellor announced a tax hike on property income by two percentage points, which is set to reduce the amount of money that private landlords make from April 2027. The property basic rate will increase to 22%, the higher rate to 42% and the additional rate to 47% in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Kay Bickley, who owns 10 rental properties in Dartmoor, including one, two and three bedroom flats and a two bedroom bungalow.

"As a landlord of retirement age I can assure you that I am also sick to death of Rachel from accounts," Ms Bickley told The Express. "I have a big fat target on my back that says pensioner and landlord, but that is ok because according to Rachel I have broad shoulders and deep pockets that the Government can mine every time they need more money."

Rachel Reeves has hiked tax on landlords (Image: Getty)

She added: "Her economics degree clearly allows her to disregard the advice of experts in the field and the OBR, even though anybody with a degree understands that it is important to be objective and consider all opinions.

"Before the end of budget day I had written to my tenants with this year's rent increase that included an additional 2% to cover my extra income tax.

"I to have suffered the results of inflation on food, energy, materials and labour and I am sucking it up no longer. My income has been steadily eroded by fiscal drag and increased revenue expenditure due to regulation year on year. It does not represent the income I predicted when planning for my retirement."

Landlords like her have been under fire for years as a result of "short-sighted and ill-judged political decision making", Ms Bickley said.

"We are expected to remedy the shortfall in social housing, suffer the Department for Work and Pensions who stop all payments when ever there is a change in a tenant's circumstances and are utterly unobtainable on the telephone.

"Then we have frozen housing allowances that now bear no relation to a market rent and are steadily freezing out our tenants who are in receipt of the Universal Credit from the private rented sector.

"Add to this increased regulation, licensing and energy efficiency schemes populated by cowboys that result in the installation of heating systems more expensive for our tenants to run that those they have replaced."

The Government doesn't seem to be listening to landlords, who can see the writing on the wall, the property owner lamented.

She added: "Yes, Section 21 is going, but the courts are in no shape to cope with the fall out of the aftermath.

"This will only mean that landlords will become even more cautious about who they have as tenants, particularly as nobody will be there to police the Renter's Rights Act.

"Have they noticed the lack of funding for staff employed by local government recently?

"Environmental services don't even try to prosecute poor landlords who rent out appalling properties with no Energy Performance Certificates. Councils simply cannot afford to take court action.

"Small wonder that many landlords are throwing in the towel and that will inevitably reduce the quantity of properties available for rent and heat up the market. The OBR told you so, Rachel."