Pictured: Deputy Lyndon Trott, President of the Policy and Resources Committee, detailing the plans for next year’s budget.
This scheme would see a “room-to-let” annual tax-free allowance for personal taxpayers who rent out a room in their property, regardless of whether the property is owned by them or not, but there are a swathe of other restrictions in place.
The tenant must be over 18 but can’t be a family member, and the room cannot be part of a guest house or bed and breakfast business.
The room must be in the taxpayer’s principal private residence, and must be furnished, but it cannot be a self-contained unit.
It does however put a bit of a rental cap in place, in a roundabout way.
The last point on the list of ‘do’s and do not’s’ is that the annual income from renting rooms cannot exceed £10,000 per room, or the whole lot will be subject to income tax. This means if “rent-a-room” landlords want to claim that tax relief, a single room to let can’t cost any more than £833 per month.
Posts online currently show rooms available for rent in Guernsey at around £900-£1,000 a month, so it may help reduce the price of renting a room.
The budget itself explains why schemes need to take place with the “average advertised price of rentals now exceeding £1,900 a month”.