Suggestion: MSE to encourage petition to increase tax-free 'Rent a Room' allowance

Pharmer

Hey there,

Putting a suggestion out there.

I have been looking at the possibility of buying a house in the near future and was excited to see that one can take in a lodger for £4250 a year...£355 a month. This is a very small limit considering some areas such as city centres where I would aim to buy.

MSE produced a news item in 2009: http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/protect/2009/11/call-to-up-tax-free-lodger-allowance

SpareRoom.co.uk sum up the benefits to various parties on their website: https://www.spareroom.co.uk/raisetheroof/about/ under their Raise The Roof campaign.

Is this a campaign people would generally support through the ePetition process?
Will this be of benefit to many MSE users?
Could MSE team up with SpareRoom.co.uk and Shelter to bring this to the attention of government?

Pharmer

My apologies. I found a petition eventually here: http://www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/george-osborne-increase-the-rent-a-room-scheme-threshold-to-help-combat-the-uk-housing-crisis-raisetheroof

Nonetheless, MSE's backing would surely bolster the numbers.

sniperpenguin

Totally Agree with this..... If only for the reason that it will:

1. Make more rooms available (Room renting is under-rated)
2. Help people generate income without worry of getting penalised
3. Make BTL less attractive in certain cases on smaller properties. Therefore, less chance of affordable housing being bought up.
4. Make people consider buying larger properties (with the intention of renting out a room), again meaning smaller more affording housing still around for those less affluent.