Landlords warn ministers that sector urgently needs support

Landlords have warned the Welsh Government that the sector needs support if it’s going to provide the rented homes that the country desperately needs.

For starters, the NRLA says there is a lack of reliable information at the disposal of policymakers in Wales, and this must be fixed before new laws are introduced.

Proposals to introduce a rent freeze cap or cap were met with an angry reaction previously, with the NRLA CEO Ben Beadle (main picture) predicting it would be a “disaster” and would “decimate” the PRS.

He says the Government should establish a Welsh Housing Survey or collect and regularly publish the equivalent data for Wales that is found in the English Housing Survey, NRLA says in a new paper.

Also, the local housing allowance rates should be unfrozen, and the purchase of additional homes for long term rent must be exempt from the 4% land transaction tax levy.

landlords

“Given the significance of the sector, and the recent, fundamental changes proposed or implemented in housing and planning policy, it is disheartening that robust and up-to-date evidence is still lacking,” NRLA says.

“It is critical that the above measures are adopted to ensure that the private rented sector can continue to provide the homes that are now essential to supporting households in Wales.”

In the grips of a cost of living crisis I know there is more we can do”

Minister Julie James defended a rent freeze or cap, saying rental costs in Wales have risen by more than 16% in some places. “In the grips of a cost of living crisis I know there is more we can do,” she said.

The PRS in Wales has become the second largest ‘mainstream housing tenure’ in the last 20 years, according to NRLA, and almost 17 per cent of households in Wales rent their home from a private landlord.