Times are difficult for landlords. Mortgage interest rates are sky-high. The Renters Reform Bill will make evicting problem tenants even harder. Rogue landlords are muddying the name of the good, honest landlords who provide a vital service. New government legislation around energy efficiency could mean expensive improvement works. The future looks tough.
This, anyway, is what you might believe if you had attended the 2022 Landlord Conference – the biggest conference for private landlords in the UK, run by National Residential Landlord Association (NRLA). Taking place in Coventry days before the UK government’s autumn statement, the conference covered a range of topics – from buy-to-let mortgages and energy efficiency, to housing law and the Renters Reform Bill. It is the first in-person conference to take place since the event launched two years ago, and hosts around 500 landlords, agents and industry figures.
In the last ten years, the private rented sector has grown by 45%. Between 2008/09 and 2020/21, it went from 3.1 million to 4.4 million households, making private rent the second most common type of housing tenure in England. As the number of privately rented houses in the UK has grown, so has the number of landlords. With landmark legislation going through parliament to bolster tenants' rights, and a rented sector reaching breaking point, what plagues their minds?
