Private landlords are out bidding first-time buyers and pushing house prices out of the reach of many young people, according to a new report.
Private landlords are out-bidding first-time buyers and pushing house prices out of the reach of many young people, according to a new report.
The Strategic Society Centre has called on the government to “tip the balance” back in favour of first time buyers and prevent landlords using their “equity advantage” to buy up empty homes, locking young people out of the property market.
Analysis by the Strategic Society Centre found that the average age of private landlords was 48 and the average age of renters 32. Mean financial wealth of landlords was £75,103 and the median £20,500, compared to just £9,506 mean and £398 median for renters.
Just under half of landlords have financial assets worth £30,000 or more, and a little over a quarter have assets worth over £70,000.
In the last 20 years the number of landlords has grown by 250 per cent, yet the number of households renting privately has risen from 2 million to 3.6million since 2000.
The report has a number of recommendations which it is calling on the government to enact, including:
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A ‘new-build buy-to-let mortgage moratorium’, preventing the purchase of new-build homes with buy-to-let mortgages;
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A ‘buy-to-let lending cap’ on the proportion of mortgage lending by banks that can be distributed buy-to-let mortgages;
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A ‘three-year rule’, such that short-term tenancy agreements cannot be drawn up in relation to homes that are less than three years old, to ensure new-build homes become owner-occupied.
Recently Left Foot Forward looked at how long it now takes a first time buyer to save a deposit for a property, as well as at some potential responses to the spiraling cost of renting.
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6 Responses to “Private landlords colonising housing market, preventing first time buying”
anon444163
I tought most landlord lived in the Bahamas….