With the possibility of the inheritance tax being set at starting at £350  a large number of elderly land owners have joined a new housing bracket: downsized share ownership housing. Rather than re-mortgaging and using current assets to develop investment portfolios for their children that may have to pay substantial inheritance taxes on any received estate, even though there are many good mortgage rates available on established homes today, people are finding it better to sell-off larger homes to free up additional cash while still maintaining a good quality location and home size.

Share ownership offers many retirees a chance to purchase part of a home as their own and rent the rest, generally from a property management company, and therefore allow them even improve their current living location to better locales without needing to substantially increase their costs. This is especially important today where a large number of overseas investors are entering into the market and putting additional pressure on the already strained local offerings.

Depending on the outcome of the election the interest in share ownership homes may continue to increase substantially, with many individuals potentially seeking out offerings in various areas to avoid unnecessary inheritance tax liabilities. Still, should the inheritance tax bracket stay somewhere in the £1m range there is a high probability as well that the current trend will be curbed and owners may choose to retain their properties in various locations to pass on to others rather than liquidate now. Whether or not this will eventuate is still in the air, though, as the number of possibilities surrounding the election are causing quite a stir in many sectors with a large number of market watchers paying close attention on the outcome to see just how the market will flow and make their move accordingly when the time is right.