Government’s private rented sector strategy ‘in tatters’ say landlords
Comments from NRLA come as speculation mounts of a further tax hike on rented housing in today’s Autumn Statement.
Government policy has broken the private rented sector (PRS) and left it in tatters, the National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA) has warned.
The number of homes in the market continues to shrink despite a substantial spike in demand.
The NRLA says that since 2015 the Government has embarked on a deliberate effort to discourage investment in private rented housing. This has included measures to restrict mortgage interest relief and imposing a 3% stamp duty levy on the purchase of homes to rent out.
CAPITAL GAINS TAX
Reports suggest the Chancellor may increase Capital Gains Tax in his Autumn Statement later today.
Earlier this year, the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Secretary, Michael Gove, argued that shrinking the PRS would help more people become homeowners.
But while official figures show that the number of households in the PRS has fallen by over a quarter of a million over the past five years demand from prospective tenants continues to soar, with students among those scrabbling to access a dwindling number of properties.
DEMAND
The NRLA found that in the third quarter of the year 65% of landlords reported that the demand for private rented housing had gone up. This was up almost 10 points compared with the previous year.
Further tax hikes on the sector risk making an already bad situation worse.”
Ben Beadle, Chief Executive of the National Residential Landlords Association, says: “The Government’s strategy for the private rented sector lies in tatters.
“The fact that the supply of homes to rent is falling despite an increase in demand is a damning indictment of tax decisions which serve only to increase rents and make home ownership more difficult to achieve.
“Further tax hikes on the sector risk making an already bad situation worse.
“Ministers need to recognise that a healthy and vibrant private rental market needs to sit alongside, rather than be in competition with, efforts to support homeownership.”
