Prior to April 2017 all the interest paid on a buy-to-let mortgage was a claimable expense.  This system was phased out over three years, and since April 2020 private landlords have received a tax credit based on 20% of their mortgage interest payments, with a consequent increase in costs for landlords who are higher-rate tax-payers.  The ECU acknowledged that, to this extent, the report had not presented a full picture of the tax regime for buy-to-let landlords.  However, the report was intended as a brief survey of the range of financial pressures on home-owners and landlords identified by the Bank of England, not as a comprehensive analysis of all the relevant factors.  In that context, and in the light of evidence that the removal of tax relief above 20% had contributed to financial pressures on private landlords and could result in higher rents or fewer available rental properties, the ECU did not consider the words complained of would have misled viewers materially or fell short of the BBC’s standards of due accuracy.
Not upheld