The Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Committee held a parliamentary session as part of its inquiry into the government’s plans. When asked if the reform would push landlords out of the sector Ben Beadle, chief executive of the National Residential Landlord Association (NRLA), said: “The exodus is well underway.”
He continued to say a “vibrant” rental sector was needed to turn generation rent into generation buy, but a lack of investment into social housing and the undersupply of new homes needed addressing.
Beadle also said landlords needed confidence that when they have exhausted all avenues to evict a tenant, the courts would be on their side.
During the debate, the reforms were compared to Scotland’s private residential tenancy agreement which was introduced in 2017. Beadle referred to research from the Nationwide Foundation on the changes which said new landlords were no longer joining Scotland’s private rental sector at the same rate they were a decade ago.
Beadle said if reflected in England, this would lead to half of landlords leaving the sector in the next five years without being sufficiently replaced. He went on to say this “will lead to a severe shortage”.
Holiday let preference not surprising
Earlier in the debate, Alicia Kennedy, Baroness Kennedy of Cradley, said she was hearing of accounts where landlords were preferring to rent to holidaymakers rather than local tenants.
In closing, Beadle said: “I can’t believe that anyone is surprised about the holiday let situation. Governments have taxed the pants off of individual landlords, it’s more attractive to rent your property on Airbnb to a stag party than it is for a long-term sustainable tenancy.”
He said a quick win to reset the balance in the sector was to look at how landlords are taxed.
He also said the white paper did “absolutely nothing” to address the supply issue and was a set of policies with a short-term view. Beadle said the government needed to “untighten the grip” on landlords.
Nothing to fear
Kennedy disagreed that the reforms would drive landlords away from the sector and said the main issue was supply, not the proposals.
She added: “There are many who want to continue to do the right thing and these reforms will enable them to do so. It’s fairer, more secure and affordable.”
Nikita Quarshie, policy officer at Shelter, said: “Good landlords have nothing to fear from the reforms. It shouldn’t drive them out but be an opportunity to embrace a more robust regulatory framework.”
She said did not want to see a reduction in rental homes, but insisted the reforms that had been promised for three years would bring about “greater security, greater accountability for both landlords and tenants, and it’s past time that it’s been introduced.”
