Families and individuals with spare rooms in their homes, even pensioners living alone, should be given special tax incentives to take in lodgers so as to relieve pressure in the private rented sector, it was suggested yesterday.
The Society of Chartered Surveyors, in welcoming the Government's response to the third Bacon report, said the measures to bring down the cost of second-hand houses for first-time buyers should be balanced with measures to increase supply of rented accommodation. Mr Tony Smith, the society's chief executive, said tax relief should be given to lodgers in private houses.