According to the State of the Lettings Industry report by Goodlord and Vouch, now in its fourth iteration, 38 per cent of tenants surveyed thought that the repeal would have a major and positive change to the private rented sector, as opposed to just eight per cent of agents.
This compared to 30 per cent of agents who think the change would be major and negative, compared to just five per cent of tenants.
The government said it would repeal Section 21 evictions in 2019 but is still yet to do so.
Earlier this year, it said it would be releasing a white paper on the private rented sector in the autumn, and it is also working on a Renters Reform Bill, which could lead to serious changes in the private rented sector.
Landlord exodus
The report also found that around 64 per cent of letting professionals said they expected landlords to leave the sector in the coming year.
Around 83 per cent of letting professionals surveyed said they have seen landlords leave the sector in the past year, with the majority seeing between one and 19 per cent exit over the past year.
Some buy-to-let brokers have said that smaller landlords had decided to sell their properties during the pandemic as property prices rose, but suggested these could be picked up by portfolio landlords looking to expand.
The most common reason for exits was legislation, followed by costs, tax changes, yields and return on investment.
Arrears stabilising but still high
Lettings professionals reporting an increase in rent arrears in September fell from 64 per cent last year to 32 per cent this year. Under half reported rent arrears had stayed the same, which the report said indicated that they were still high.
Just under a third of respondents said they had seen an increase in arrears over the past year, and of those 37 per cent said that it had increased by 10 per cent.
Around 22 per cent said arrears had risen by between 11 and 20 per cent, whereas 16 per cent said that arrears had increased by 30 per cent or more.
