A leading property industry figure has said that a growing number of landlords within the private rented sector have ‘had enough’ and are quitting the market.

The comments have been made by Paul Shamplina (main image, right), founder of evictions specialist Landlord Action, during an appearance on the Ian Collins Talk TV show.

Shamplina said that the many landlords he’s spoken to in recent months have said they want out and that, as well as widespread industry data that suggests more landlords are quitting than joining the sector, the Government is creating problems for itself further down the line.

The star of TV show Nightmare Tenants, Slum Landlords told Collins that the Renters’ Rights Bill has been the final straw for many landlords with just one or a handful of properties after they have faced increased local licensing efforts by their council, the removal of tax relief on mortgage payments, being taxed on turnover rather than profit and the evictions ban during Covid.

Raft of changes

Landlords now face a further raft of changes within the Bill, which is being debated in the Lords this week, which Shamplina predicts will make evicting tenants who build up rent arrears more difficult, expensive and time consuming.

“At Landlord Action the average time to wait for landlords seeking to evict a tenants is now 15 months during which they are often paying the mortgage while the tenant isn’t paying the rent,” he says.

Landlords also face an increase in the amount of red tape they face including restrictions on how they negotiate multiple bids for a property but also higher interest rate rises; greater pet rights for tenants; and higher fines and Rent Repayment Orders for non-compliance with selective and HMO licensing.

And that all comes on top of tougher EPC rules for rented homes in 2030.

“The unintended consequence of all this that the Government don’t realise is that more tenants are being asked to leave their properties as more landlords leave the sector,” says Shamplina.

“When these tenants then realise there are few affordable properties to rent in their area, this puts extra pressure on local councils to provide temporary accommodation and makes council housing waiting lists even longer.”

Landlords leaving

Shamplina’s comments are echoed by new research this week from BTL mortgage firm Together, which reveals that new regulations are pushing a considerable percentage of landlords out of the buy-to-let marke.

It says rising taxes such as Capital Gains Tax, and expenses caused by new governmental regulations such as the Renters’ Rights Bill are likely to be causing landlords with smaller portfolios to sell some of their properties, or exit the market completely.

Together’s research revelas how more than a tenth (12%) of buy-to-let landlords will be offloading properties this year, with 11% planning to exit the market altogether. 8% of BTL landlords admit they don’t foresee any opportunities in the next 12 months and will pause their investment activity and wider property plans.