Another interesting feature of yesterday's Budget - not necessarily for homeowners but certainly for the property industry - were planned changes to the way investment in multiple properties is taxed. Just a few weeks ago, our publisher, writing for Citywire, called on measures to encourage institutional investment in residential lets, as a way of bolstering and improving the quality of the ever-more-important private rented sector. The Chancellor appears to have been on the same page. Plans in the Budget include a system of rating Stamp Duty at the average, rather than the total, property value on purchases of more than a single property. (So ten £200,000 flats will be charged at 1% instead of 5%.) There's to be a consultation, too, on clarifying Real Estate Investment Trust rules as they apply to residential properties, to encourage important tax breaks to institutional investors. The result? Your pension fund may soon be your landlord.

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