you can hardly blame parents for trying to help their children out

In the areas, where I have invested in Buy to let. Had it not been for myself repairing the run down houses, some of our tenants would still be living in sub standard council and private accomodation. As far as I can see, I am enhancing the community and not being detrimental to it.

The reality is that the shortage in social housing has been met in recent years by buy to let landlords when there has been a dearth of investment in publicly funded housing. If the current tax regime is changed it may free some housing for first time buyers but will also result in tenants who cant afford to buy losing their homes as landlords sell up.

There should be higher tax relief incentive from the govt. to private landlords, cos they r doing a valuable service in reducing homelessness and improving standard of high quality homes for renting,u dont need govt, intervention for unscrupulous landlords, as people will vote them out of business by not renting their properties.

Since daytime T.V. have promoted Buy to Let, there was inevitably going to be an increase in people seeing a great opportunity to make money. What puzzsles me is how long it is taking H.M.G. to cash in on it. Here is a cash cow being exploited by over 300,000 'investors' with government actually helping them - it cannot be long before a massive contribution to our taxman makes BtL a much less attractive proposition. I trust all those who are doing it for the benefit of our communities will continue to provide the same help when it is no longer going to provide them with their luxuries.

I have been a buy-to-let Landlord since 1985 - long before buy-to-let as such existed. Before the changes in legislation in the late 90's tenants had absloute security of tenure, so there was little good quality accommodation. I feelI have provided this now for over 20 years.

As for government tax breaks - I see none. I provide homes for single people in multi-occupancy houses - with the correct fire certification. It is very time consuming to manage these properties and tenants phone up whenever they please. Despite this,the government does not see this as a business and thus I cannot offset my rental losses against my other business interests.

When I sell the properties - as I intend to do over the next two years, i will have to pay Capital Gains Tax on the increase in value - the tax breaks are not as good as if it were a business, so even though I have held some for nearly 20years, then I only get about 35% relief. If it were a business, it would be 75% after four or five, I think. So the people who really make money out of their property portfolios are once again the fatcats- large investment companies and pension funds.

So if any of you out there know a way to avoid paying all the tax I have to pay and how to offset rental losses against other income I would love to hear!!

I think there is a little point that people seem to be missing here, unless I am missing something, in which case I will be pleased to be corrected.

Buy to let doesn't need to push first time buyers out of the market. If they have a job, they too could get an interest only mortgage. They could be paying that instead of rent. They don't need to be paying a repayment mortgage if they can't afford it. Paying interest only is similar to paying rent, but there is capital accruing in the home.

The advantage of renting for young people is that it is less stressful than owning their own home. Everything is managed for them. But if they wanted to buy, they actually could. It is very easy to borrow money at the moment.

I am a divorced single parent. I pay interest only on the house I am living in. I can't afford a repayment mortgage. I might as well be accruing capital in the house than paying rent.

I would love to be able to buy to live let alone buy to let, unfortunately the largest interest only mortgage I have found of 80k wont buy me a one bedroom flat in the county I was born and brought up in; Devon. Most villages here are minimum 30% holiday cottages or are rented out at an unaffordable price for locals. I do know a few buy to letters who have had to rent their properties well below their mortgage payments and are scratching around each month to make up the difference. I move to france lock stock after xmas, Cheerio and good luck GB!

It certainly must be upsetting for people like Ben to be feeling they cannot afford to buy in their childhood county but isn't Devon full of Northern accents anyway? People who have moved from City price to Town price with a little change left over.Ben is doing likewise ...it's what happens!Where do bright young Devonians go for quality jobs? ...back to the Cities.