The Intermediary – July 2026 - Flipbook - Page 68
S E C O N D C H A RG E
Opinion
Interesting times
lie ahead
T
he impending
coronation of a
fresh Labour prime
minister in the shape
of newly elected MP
for Makerfield, Andy
Burnham, has already created pages of
speculation as to the direction of travel
his new government will take.
One thing is certain, faced with
the competing financial needs of, for
example, the ever-expanding costs of
the welfare state and the requirements
of investment in our armed forces,
long starved of the resources they
need, Mr Burnham has some hard
choices to make.
Of course, he could rip up the
current fiscal rules and just borrow
more money. Alternatively, the siren
call of increasing taxes might be
more aractive, especially among
those of his MPs who still believe that
the rich can still be milked without
consequence. We shall see.
But what about his plans for the
housing market? In its manifesto,
Labour made a commitment to build
1.5 million new homes within its
first five years in office. This was
intended as a significant step towards
alleviating the housing shortage
in the UK.
The plan included a focus on
affordable housing, first-time
buyers, and the development of new
towns with modern infrastructure.
According to official figures, net
additional dwellings figures for the
financial year 2024/25 were released
in November 2025 and show 208,600
homes were added. So, well below the
level needed by 2029 without a massive
increase in annual building numbers.
The new Prime Minister has
however shown a fresh aitude to
property taxes. He says he is in favour
of replacing Council Tax and Stamp
Duty with a new annual levy. The
proposals, first put forward by crossparty property tax campaign group,
Fairer Share, could form the basis of
a wider overhaul of property taxation
which would see homeowners pay an
annual charge equivalent to 0.48% of a
property’s value.
On the face of it, it seems a
genuinely interesting proposal. Even
though it is too early to see whether it
would make it off the drawing board
and into actual legislation, ridding
the market of the iniquitous Stamp
Duty would definitely get my vote.
It would go a long way to freeing the
market, not only for buyers generally,
but especially for older owners of
larger properties, who want to move
to smaller more manageable places
but are stopped by having to pay
Stamp Duty.
Of course, there will be plenty
of questions over the fairness of a
new system that replaces Council
Tax. Property valuation will be key.
Revaluation upwards would put a
great strain on those on fixed incomes,
The sector has seen false dawns before, but there is cautious optimism about what lies ahead
66
The Intermediary | July 2026
LAURA THOMAS
is regional sales manager
at Equifinance
especially if the new tax is more than
the original Council Tax.
Second charge future
I have seen too many false dawns
around the overall acceptance
of second charge mortgages and
although I am encouraged by the
positivity, and while it is prudent
to have a plan in place to be able to
accept greater capacity, wholesale
scaling up is unlikely to be a priority
among lenders.
Most lenders will be seeking to
increase efficiency first and foremost,
looking at systems and improvements
to case handling and staff training.
Technology will play a big part in the
development of the second charge
market and especially its ability to
allow a business to streamline its
processes.
However, while the adoption of
technology brings many benefits,
it only works if the human side is
also working well. Having the right
people in the right positions, with
the skills and ability to underwrite,
communicate and process is the other
side of the equation. Making the
workplace an environment, which is
supportive, dynamic and frankly, a
place where people enjoy coming to
work is vitally important. It has been
well documented that the happier a
workplace is, the more successful and
productive it can be. Estimates vary,
but a 12% increase in productivity,
along with a drop in staff absences and
lower staff turnover strongly suggest
that every business can benefit from
creating the right environment for
its staff. ●
