Scrutinise borrowing in light of trust tax rise

“Investors need to regularly scrutinise their borrowing because of changing legislation and in terms of how much they can borrow and what tax vehicle will suit them from a tax efficiency point of view.

“The increase in trust tax will make many investors review their investment portfolios even though they cannot do anything about the rise.”

Bansal says the increase in trust tax combined with the phasing out of mortgage interest tax deductibility and changes to the Residential Tenancies Act, will make people think twice about property investing.

He says many first time investors are putting off entering the market – lending is tight because of higher interest rates, the weaker appetite of banks to lend and mortgage repayments rising.