Govt tax changes driving landlords into the arms of Airbnb, says RLA

The government’s recent tax changes for landlords are pushing more and more of them out of the long-term rental market and into the arms of short-term websites such as Airbnb, research by the Residential Landlords Association (RLA) has found. Its data ‘lab’ PEARL says one of the UK’s hotspots for this phenomenon is Cardiff, where the number of landlords offering properties via sites like Airbnb has increased by 259% over the past 12 months. The RLA also says that its research points to one in five properties rented out within the Welsh capital are now short-term, rather than long-term lets. Airbnb bookings The research follows the RLA’s disclosure earlier this year that one in three Airbnb landlords were those driven out of the traditional rental sector by the recent tax change for landlords. “With the tax changes incentivising the use of homes as short-term holiday lets it is tenants who will suffer as fewer properties are available for them rent for the long term,” says Douglas Haig, RLA Vice-Chair and Director for Wales (pictured, left). “The Government wants longer term security for tenants, especially families, and landlords support this, but they need to change their tax policy to achieve it.”…