A terrifying future awaits us. Brace yourself: As tougher regulations are introduced, landlords are fleeing the sector and leaving even fewer houses available for rent. Rents must rise, worse conditions must be tolerated, and new rules must be reconsidered because before you know it, all the landlords will be gone.
Or will they? The narrative that landlords are selling up because of tax changes or the upcoming Renters’ Reform Bill, which will ban “no fault evictions”, has been repeated time and time again recently, from MPs to landlord bodies and even the Bank of England. But after the chief executive of the UK’s biggest landlord lobby admitted he had misrepresented the facts – and that the sector was actually growing slightly – the claim has fallen apart.
This week, it was the government’s turn to change its tune. On Tuesday, I watched new housing minister Rachel Maclean speak during the Renters’ Reform Coalition’s day of action. During the conversation, she admitted the narrative that landlords are leaving the sector and worsening the supply issue is “wrong”.
