The number of households in the private rented sector at risk of being evicted due to landlords selling up has increased by a third since the end of last year, according to fresh analysis by the National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA).
According to government data, between October and December 2023, 5,400 households in the private rented sector in England qualified for council support to prevent homelessness after their landlord decided to sell the property. The most recent data shows that between April and June 2024, this number had increased to 7,130 households.
The figures show that selling a property is the single biggest reason for a landlord to end a tenancy, and almost three times bigger than the next most common reason.
Whilst the Renters’ Rights Bill will increase the time before a landlord can sell a property, the NRLA argues that more needs to be done to encourage responsible landlords to keep rental properties in the first place.
Government data shows that a third of landlords (31%) are planning to sell properties they rent out in the next two years, up from 22%. In contrast, just 7% say they are planning to provide new homes to rent in the next two years, compared with 11 per cent in 2021.
It comes as an average of 21 people are chasing every available home to rent.
The NRLA is calling on the government to reform the way rented housing is taxed to support and encourage the supply of new, decent quality homes on the market.
Alongside this, responsible landlords need confidence that when ‘no fault’ repossessions end, legitimate possession cases will be processed far more swiftly by the courts than at present. The NRLA is therefore calling on the Government to publish a clear plan to improve what the Housing minister accepts is a court system “on its knees.”
Ben Beadle, chief executive of the NRLA, said: “Right across the country it is tenants who are suffering as landlords decide to sell up. No amount of changing the rules about when landlords can sell will address the central problem in the rental market, namely a chronic shortage of homes to meet demand.
“What tenants need is greater choice. That means encouraging and supporting the vast majority of responsible landlords to stay and continue to provide decent quality housing.”
Well, we didn’t see this coming did we? :-/
You must be logged in to like or dislike this comments.
Click to login
Don't have an account? Click here to register
Just a thought & dare one says ….There are alternatives to large-scale development…such as controlling immigration, clearing the backlog of asylum seekers (and being stricter on sending illegal migrants home).
More people crowding into our small over-populated island means more properties are needed and our countryside is being lost forever.
Meanwhile pro tem Labour continue their onslaught on landlords.
You must be logged in to like or dislike this comments.
Click to login
Don't have an account? Click here to register
To be fair to them it is the government’s onslaught on private and accidental landlords. George Osborne started the sector cleansing of small scale landlords from the PRS
You must be logged in to like or dislike this comments.
Click to login
Don't have an account? Click here to register
I like your phrase “Private landlord Sector cleansing” this is the kind of war speak that the NRLA should be advocating.
You must be logged in to like or dislike this comments.
Click to login
Don't have an account? Click here to register
Lots of small landlords that have not been asked to complete SA105 L7P and who have not opted in to completing L7P are the bane of HMRC’s life , they have no idea who should be completing the return. The fewer of them the better. after all they are competitors to institutional landlords and competitors to voters who want to own their own home
You must be logged in to like or dislike this comments.
Click to login
Don't have an account? Click here to register
When I make this comment, I mean that Landlords are being exterminated/trade cleansed from operating as landlords by the British Government.
You must be logged in to like or dislike this comments.
Click to login
Don't have an account? Click here to register
Whatever – Labour are tearing the industry, rental sector apart with their illogical ideas & false promises. One thing for certain likelihood of increased taxation, bureaucracy ….. need one say more as most know where this government is heading by slowly ruining the country let alone the private rental sector which in the absence of government provision supports & provides accommodation to a number who can’t afford to purchase.
You must be logged in to like or dislike this comments.
Click to login
Don't have an account? Click here to register
Landlords do not evict on a whim it takes just one bad tenant for some landlords just to sell up. Today there is a myriad of reasons. EPC’s, new Gov. legislation, s24, the end of s21, etc. If you do rent from a buy to let landlord you do not have a home for life. Why Gov. hates private landlords will remain one of life’s great mysteries. Especially in a country that no longer houses its people.
You must be logged in to like or dislike this comments.
Click to login
Don't have an account? Click here to register
The reason why the Government ‘hates’ private landlords is because its rental income that could easily be in the government’s coffers as opposed to private landlords. The UK has increasing unemployment, lots of industries including car production etc are shutting up shop and the demise of high street shopping all contributes to severe low tax revenue for the government. Where are they going to get as much money and tax revenue as possible……yes property !!! In time, the government, banks and hedge funds will be the biggest landlords up and the country if not already.
You must be logged in to like or dislike this comments.
Click to login
Don't have an account? Click here to register
Whatever – Labour are tearing the industry, rental sector apart with their illogical ideas & false promises. One thing for certain likelihood of increased taxation, bureaucracy ….. need one say more as most know where this government is heading by slowly ruining the country let alone the private rental sector which in the absence of government provision supports & provides accommodation to a number who can’t afford to purchase.
You must be logged in to like or dislike this comments.
Click to login
Don't have an account? Click here to register
I wrote this during the last government in reply to someone else’s post but it’s still relevant:
Jo you make a really good point here, I haven’t heard anyone say it in this way before.
Sometimes it takes a while for things to really click with me ♀️.
It’s good because it puts a positive spin on how removing S24 and all the other anti landlord policies for that matter would increase house building.
Politicians, housing groups and think tanks agree that one of the main causes of our housing crisis is, we’re not building enough houses.
We LLs need to push this point.
We really need more houses. More houses means less competition, in turn, lower house prices as well as lower rents. Basic supply and demand. Everyone agrees on this because it’s common sense.
Yes, we understand that the government want more build-to-rent so that big businesses can make more money but they are clearly unable to invest at a rate TO FULFIL THE REQUIRED NEED. Otherwise they’d be doing it. So not enough units are being built.
Fact: time has shown that anti landlord policies are creating more homelessness as well as bankrupting councils. Not good for anyone. Not good for the country. Certainly not good for tenants who are paying more and more rent. Or for tax payers (working people) who are footing the bill for the temp accommodation. Resulting in less money to put in the NHS, Councils and education. Time and REAL WORLD EVIDENCE has proved this.
Jo’s point is, remove the policies that disincentivise LLs (preventing LLs from making a profit), which will increase the money available to invested in off-plan, which will increase the number of houses built.
FTBs firmly blame LLs competing for properties for increasing house prices, but the REAL WORLD EVIDENCE that’s been happening over the past few years proves a different picture.
There’s a big ish development near me where you can clearly see that the developers are putting small FTBr houses on the market in dribs and drabs because there aren’t enough buyer’s of any persuasion. Yet we know there aren’t enough houses ♀️. So how can FTBs be competing with LLs in the real world? If young first-time buyers were in a position to buy, these developments would have built and sold a long time ago. FTBs competing with LLs is a made up issue that real world evidence has proven wrong? There’s nothing stopping LLs and FTBs buying off plan, the more houses that are reserved, the more houses the developers build. And:
WE NEED MORE HOUSES!!!
But it’s not happening because LLs won’t invest in a hostel market. So what’s stopping FTBs? It’s not LLs after all. If it was LLs competing against FTBs that was keeping prices high then they should be having a field day right now. It’s not happening because it was never the problem in the first place.
The Governments of all persuasions should change tact because stifulling LL investment is clearly NOT working.
Encourage LL investment in off-plan. Use our money to build more houses because the public sector purse just can’t afford to biuld them and big businesses can’t invest fast enough. How does LLs selling haveing our money languishing away in savings account help the country?
The Government don’t have the cash, big businesses can’t build fast enough. It’s going to be decades before big businesses or Governments take over from LLs. In the meanwhile the vulnerable in society, who can’t and will never be in a position to buy suffer in temporary housing, or poor quality, damp social housing, or even worse, on the streets.
Telling the government that they’re wrong because their policies are really hurting LLs, tenants and vulnerable families isn’t working. They don’t actually care about this counties population.
But MONEY, they understand. They understand that a thriving economy helps everyone.
More houses being built means more money being made by everyone. You can always tell the health of an economy by the health of it’s building industry.
You must be logged in to like or dislike this comments.
Click to login
Don't have an account? Click here to register