‘Bring in rent controls and a third of us will sell up’ warn landlords

Landlords have warned that rent controls would prompt a third of them to sell up if such market restrictions were introduced in England or Wales, warning that they would make a ‘chronic’ housing supply problem even worse.

The NRLA is hoping to get the message over to the Governments of England and Wales – Scotland already has rent controls – as Welsh politicians consider a recent consultation on rent controls and Sadiq Khan continues to push his Labour colleagues to limit rent increases.

Labour said in its manifesto that it would seek to limit how much landlords can raise rents and how often, although solid proposals have yet to emerge.

The NRLA comments come as research by Pegasus Insight shows that during the second quarter of the year 82 per cent of landlords in England and Wales reported strong demand for properties from tenants, while landlords were two times more likely to have sold properties over the previous year than to have purchased rental homes.

According to the data, eight per cent had bought properties to rent out, compared with 17 per cent who had sold.

Looking to the year ahead while 10 per cent said they planned to purchase new homes to rent out, one-third planned to sell over the same period.

Disaster

“Whichever way you look at it there are more renters looking for a place to live than there are homes available,” says Ben Beadle, Chief Executive of the NRLA.

“Ultimately rent controls would be a disaster for tenants. All they would do is choke off supply further, undermining what little choice tenants currently have when looking for somewhere to live.

“Housing is expensive because we don’t have enough of every type of property, be it for owner occupation, social rent or private rent. The only way to solve this crisis is to boost supply right across the board.”