The Treasury has confirmed that it will not introduce tax relief on mortgage interest payments for either homeowners or landlords despite the ongoing mortgage cost crisis.
As we highlighted yesterday, many landlords are now seeing their monthly payments increase significantly – sometimes doubling and even tripling – if they are on variable rates or are coming off fixed-rate mortgages.
But Government minister Andrew Griffith (main picture), Economic Secretary to the Treasury, told fellow Conservative (and ‘red wall’) MP Jonathan Gullis that any help for mortgage holders would only stoke the already roaring flames of inflation, and that country’s all over the western world faced the same problems.
Gullis, quoting fellow red wall MP Jake Berry, had said it was time for the Government to “return to a Conservative principle of introducing a mortgage interest relief at source-type scheme, which allows borrowers tax relief for interest payments on their mortgages”.
Unfunded
But Griffith replied that “this Government [will] not come forward with the sort of unfunded spending commitments that we see on the Labour Benches.
“That would be disastrous for my hon. Friend’s constituents because it would see inflation remain higher for longer.”
Griffith’s shadow opposite number, Pat McFadden, joined in the debate pointing out that rising mortgage costs were pushing up rents and that help was needed including – presumably – a return of tax relief on mortgage interest for landlords.
The rank and file Conservatives calling for Government support for mortgage holders are not alone. This week Michael Gove (pictured) was slapped down by Rishi Sunak for suggesting that the UK should move to long-term mortgages on fixed rates, an approach many other countries including the US have already adopted and, thus, insulated their housing markets from the current financial turmoil.
Read more: Five way to cope with losing mortgage interest relief.
