ISLANDERS who rent out residential property in the UK will escape new ‘mansion tax’ charges announced this week, according to tax expert John Riva of KPMG.

He said that the effects of changes to UK tax laws on residential property ownership will not be as bad as many had originally feared.

And he said that the new rules flagged up in George Osborne’s autumn statement due to come into force on 6 April next year will leave Islanders free to continue to rent out substantial properties and not be hit by the new charges.

Mr Riva said: ‘This is far better than we first expected and it is a good example of how consultation actually works.’

He said that it was clear that the UK government never intended to damage the residential rental market, and was prepared to allow people to continue to invest in that arena without being taxed too heavily.

Full report in Thursday’s JEP