Campaigners against the reduction in buy-to-let landlord’s tax relief have met with the new housing minister Gavin Barwell to discuss their grievances, reported EstateAgentToday.co.uk in September 2016.

They believe that David Cameron’s government was against buy-to-let landlords and they want the present government to reverse this attitude.

According to the finance act of 2015, a clause restricts the mortgage interest relief that landlords can claim. A Judicial Review is to take place in October where arguments against this will be heard.

Representatives of the pressure group Axe the Tenant Tax met Barwell. They included landlords, an estate agent and a developer. The campaigners praised Barwell’s handling of the meeting, and on the campaigners Facebook page, they said:

“He took notes, listened intently and asked clarifying questions when he felt he needed to. At the end, he summarized well, asked us to rank in order of priority/concern all of the issues that we discussed and then he put his points across well. At times he agreed with us and when he disagreed, he explained his reasoning.”

Barwell is on record as supporting private landlords. The anti-tax group emphasized that buy-to-let investors are a critical to satisfying Britain’s housing demand. The group also discussed arranging a follow-up meeting with the housing minister.

Although Barwell has not officially supported the scrapping of the landlord tax relief changes, the Axe the Tenant Tax groups are pleased that there is an ongoing dialogue with the government that could benefit buy-to-let landlords and the residential and commercial mortgage deals they are able to secure.