Landlord groups have claimed that many are leaving the market because of over-regulation.
A housing activist has poured scorn on claims that there is a mass exodus among landlords from the market following the Renters’ Right Act which provides more security for renters.
The Renters’ Right Act will come into force from May 1st and will ban no-fault evictions, while also banning bidding wars and limiting rent increases to once per year to the market rate. The Labour government says that the act will give renters much more security and stability so they can stay in their homes for longer, build lives in their communities, and avoid the risk of homelessness.
Landlord groups have claimed that many are leaving the market because of over-regulation.
However, housing campaigner Martin Mawdsley, ACORN Liverpool branch secretary, has said that such arguments are flawed and not borne out by the evidence.
ACORN is a community union which has been organising against rogue landlords, homes in awful conditions and runaway rents.
Appearing on LFF live yesterday, he was asked about the argument that landlords are selling up to leave the market.
He said: “There absolutely have been landlords leaving the market at a slightly higher rate than previously, but there hasn’t been this sort of mass exodus that had been threatened and a lot of the landlords that are leaving are just retiring.
“They are landlords who brought through right-to-buy 30 or so years ago, they’re now retiring, they don’t want to bother managing properties and are cashing in but the fact is that if you’re the sort of landlord who doesn’t want to be a landlord anymore because you can’t just kick someone out on a whim or you can’t be bothered going through the proper processes and want to rely on section 21 instead, then fine leave.
“Someone else will take over the property who will manage it properly or buy it to live in themselves. There hasn’t been a mass exodus, there aren’t hundreds of thousands of tenants about to be made homeless because no one wants to be a landlord anymore and no one can afford to buy, that isn’t happening at all.”
Basit Mahmood is editor of Left Foot Forward
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