Meeting of the Parliament 15 January 2025
I rise to speak against the increase in the additional dwelling supplement that is contained in the SSI. In the Finance and Public Administration Committee, Liz Smith and I voted against the change because of the likely effect on the housing market and because it amounts to another Scottish National Party stealth tax.
Although the Government says that its recent policy changes are not negatively impacting the buy-to-let market, that is not the evidence that we are receiving anecdotally from landlords who are leaving the market and those who are not adding to their portfolios. It is not what the sector says, either. Timothy Douglas, Propertymark’s head of policy and campaigns, made that clear when he said:
“With the huge demand for private rented property and long-term rent control measures contained in the Housing Bill, the Scottish Government’s decision to raise Additional Dwelling Supplement ... from six to eight per cent is ... out of touch with the housing needs of Scotland.”
I concede that the change might have less of an impact on the build-to-rent market, because transactions that involve more than six properties are excluded from ADS. However, surely the Government must concede that many buy-to-let investors have only a couple of properties.
When the Minister for Public Finance gave evidence to the Finance and Public Administration Committee, he somewhat casually dealt with a point that cannot be easily disregarded. If somebody buys a buy-to-let property for £200,000, they will have to pay £16,000 in ADS, which will undoubtedly be passed on to the tenant through higher rent.