The Budget on Wednesday will contain a £300m tax raid on the rental sector according to a report this morning – a report thought to be the subject of a leak from government.

The Sunday Times says: “The Chancellor [Jeremy Hunt] is to launch £300m tax raid on second home owners who make money from holiday lets in an attempt to make the [income tax cut] sums add up. 

“He will abolish a series of tax perks for landlords who rent out their properties to short-term holidaymakers rather than long-term tenants.

“Although it represents another tax grab by the Conservatives, Hunt will argue it will help tackle the housing shortage in coastal areas and holiday hotspots such as Cornwall and the Lake District, where landlords are converting to holiday lets to benefits from generous tax perks, depriving local people of housing.”

Today the National Residential Landlords Association issued a broadside against the government.

“The Chancellor needs to address the chronic shortage of long-term rentals by attracting new landlords to the market. Squeezing holiday lets is not the answer. He should follow the advice of the Institute for Fiscal Studies and reverse punitive tax hikes which have stifled the supply of the homes renters desperately need” says chief executive Ben Beadle.

“Scrapping the stamp duty levy on the purchase of additional homes would see almost 900,000 new long-term homes to rent made available over the next 10 years. This would lead to a £10 billion boost to Treasury revenue as a result of increased income and corporation tax receipts.”