Has the whole world gone daft?The proposed changes to CGT will hugely increase the cost to basic rate taxpayers to the benefit of higher rate earners.Taking taper relief(to be abolished)into account my tax bill will increase from 8% to 18% on any taxable profit. I have been taking the long view for the last 10 years with taper relief in mind,now at a `stroke all benefit is lost. Gorden Brown destroyed pensions in this country now he may well have damaged any vital enterprise .

derek, nottingham, uk

There can only be a decline in prospect for the prices of most property now. Some of the few positive reasons for buying are a continued shortage and the hope that many prospective sellers may persuade themselves that if they hang on for a little longer prices may continue their upward momentum. But there are always going to be people who have to sell because of finance or job moves and the hoped for escalation of house building is many years away yet. You also now have the prospect of most first time buyers sitting on their deposits, watching mesmerised as prices continue to fall. As the months go by it is going to be harder and harder for these lucky people to plunge in and make the largest purchase of their lives in the knowledge at the back of their minds that prices could slide further. This market has a long way to fall.

Diddly Do, Liverpool,

This can only be good news for people in this country who have been forced out of the property market by prospectors.

The explosive unregulated growth in BTL investment has inflicted the most damage on UK society in a generation. When people have the opportunity to own their own home then communities are able to flourish. When investors buy up large percentages of property in a particular area and scoop over inflated rents from tenants then communities are effectively destroyed. Landlords add nothing, neither morally, socially, or financially to the areas in which they invest.

Why hasn’t the government introduced substantial tax increases on rental income?

Alan, Inverness,

FLip it over, buying an investment property may now look better due to the CGT being lowered. Those who take the long view will realise the longer they keep the property, the more CGT they will avoid.

ewan, sherborne,

I think after the new year there shall be a mass of these propertys coming onto the market, everyone will want to get rid a.s.a.p. so might not wait till April. This may then have a big impact on the rest of the property market.Good times never last..

john, moray,

I suspect that the market will be flooded with BTLs long before April. Given that it takes time to sell property, the "smart" sellers will aim to get properties to market a month or two earlier, in an effort to beat the pack of "not so smart" sellers who they believe will wait until the rules actually change. Of course, if everybody acts this way the glut will be in place well before April 1st and so further price falls are likely even before the deadline. Scary times!

dominic wise, ealing, london