Thursday, 6 May 2021, 5:12 am This is our second survey undertaken since the government announced changes in housing policies on March 23. Of greatest significance in the announcement was the immediate removal of ability to deduct interest expenses from income for new buyers of existing property, and a phase in of the same deduction removal over four years for current property owners. New purchases of newly built properties will retain the deduction along with a five-year brightline test for application of capital gains tax, as opposed to an extension to ten years for new buyers of existing properties. There has been considerable discussion