Small landlords selling off isn't a great news after all

Spot on, well said.

I'm a small-time landlord, and will never sell my properties. Not letting the big corporations have them, really wish other LLs like me would stop selling!!

The new rules and regulations are not bad enough to warrant so many LLs selling!

It's a nightmare here in Wales already with the result that no small landlord with any sense will stay in the market. Thus there is a glut of properties ( many very affordable) for sale but nothing to rent for 50 miles.

This is what the landlords have to comply with...my own home can never meet these standards so is technically unfit for human habitation but I really can't do anything about the height of the risers on my stairs nor the pitch. It's a 250 year old cottage and pretty typical of the area

https://www.gov.wales/fitness-homes-human-habitation-guidance-landlords-html

Same here - also in Scotland and I’ll sell when my tenant gives notice.

Wouldn’t it have been better to incentivise landlords to sell to their tenants?

I do wonder what people take issue with specifically?

I like the idea of periodic tenancies as I know so many people who moved into a 12 month lease but then discovered the landlord had hidden a pretty significant issue (like a rodent infestation) and then they were stuck for 12 months or had to pay a ton to get out.

You know that the majority of cash spent by "Private Equity" is pension funds? People often seem to want their pension funds to have strong returns but the companies which those funds are invested in to not make returns for shareholders. It all very odd really.

I am selling a previously rented house at the moment, it’s just too much hassle being a LL and it seems likely to get worse.
I was a pretty good LL, no big rent rises and did work as needed. This mental reform act thing is the final straw really

Many small landlords are people who wanted to keep their foothold on the property ladder when moving in with a partner, or can't afford to buy where they work so buy a property out of area to get started (the fastest growing buy to let segment was millennials buying their first property). Some of these would price commercially, many just wanted a good tennant and an easy life and so would keep rent increases to a minimum to retain a good tennant- you'll never have this with a commercial enterprise.

My concern with this legislation is not only is it not good for tennants, but it isn't good for people who want to retain a little security when trialling moving in with a partner and want to keep their options open; or people who can't afford the property they need.

This is us. 2 BTL. 1 with a very long term tenant in. Partner owns that one. He was loathe to up the rent but eventually did so as hugely under the market. Both houses are still about £250 pcm under the market but we would rather people stay long term and aren't squeezed.
We're thinking of selling purely as we want the money out of them, however if they go to another LL we know they'll hike the prices ridiculously.

I couldn’t do it. As somebody who has rented I know what would make a “good” landlord.

But then to be a truly good landlord means I would have to have a higher rent to get a return on my investment and I would feel too guilty making it harder for somebody else to fulfil their home ownership desires.

So I think landlords are needed but I could never be one.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guide-to-the-renters-rights-bill/guide-to-the-renters-rights-bill#overview-of-bill-measures

If anybody is interested in what the renter’s rights bill will say.

Where is the Monopolies and Mergers Commission, when you need them?

We rent privately. It’s so shit.
we looked at buying somewhere smaller to rent out, then we’d just need the shortfall for our rent. idea being the kids would inherit something and so we had a step on that ladder.
But, we just couldn’t do it. We just couldn’t be part of the problem and if we ever did need to sell, we’d have to give them notice and we know how gut wrenching that is.

Lots of councils are doing buying schemes at the moment.

the crux of the issue is what a pp said, they needed to build more social housing first.

poor first time buyer in the @Goingindrain getting outbid by a big group. That’s pretty shitty.

Seems obvious that small "businesses" can't be arsed tor able to sustain it.

also seems obvious that two things are going to happen: millions more houses are going to be builit because we don't have "enough housing" which will coincide with a lot of people dying off from old age, so there will be a glut of housing.

But noone will be selling because theyve paid more for it and dont want to fall into negative equity and a lot of people will sit tight hoping for price increases or sell to corporations who will pay more.

The energy efficiency proposals will have a horrendous effect. We've been looking for flats for our son to buy and there's an absolute shed load of flats coming on the market with adverse energy efficiency ratings as the landlords try to offload them before the new rules come into force which effectively ban the letting of them without huge expense (often actually impossible) to gain the right energy efficient rating. As others have said, it could well push private rents underground with "informal" letting agreements giving tenants even less protection.

As always in this country all the attention and legislation is directed at the compliant people. The decent landlords letting out properties that might be a bit dated or compromised are forced to sell while little attention is given to the shitshow of beds in sheds and illegal HMOs.
I’ve been a landlord when I went abroad for a few years. There is no way my ordinary family semi would have been compliant or worth adapting or I could have taken the risk the tenants would not move out. As it was the family who rented it got a cheap rent on a nice house for a few years and everyone was happy.

I will never cry a single tear for somebody with 6 BTLs

We know it’s this but landlords will pretend otherwise and want people to cry them a river…

Except that the llast government was supposed to be banning section 21 notices but they ran out of time because the PM called the election earlier.

We’ve just sold ours. We were charging £475, the market rate was £800 but all the changes made me anxious even though we have always been compliant and good landlords. We sold to someone who had it as his home though so I was happy with that.

I was also one of those tenants until recently. Me and my husband very happily rented a flat in Central London our landlord put the rent up once in the ten years we were there and the only reason we left is because we bought a flat.

I loathe landlords on principle but I also think they are a very necessary evil. I could never be one.

There needs to be a balance in enabling landlords to make money, easily remove shitty tenants, but at the same time ensure that those wishing to buy have enough stock to select from and those having to rent are also protected from shitty landlords.

I'm aware of the renter rights bill I'm not sure how that impacts the small landlords being mentioned here? Most of the cases mentioned are talking about landlords who have happily rented their houses to long term tenants who are also happy with the arrangement?

I have wondered the same. Can think of so many situations where I’ve wanted to rent not buy. Sometimes you want to live somewhere temporarily. I have been a landlord renting out my house while simultaneously being a tenant because I wanted to live somewhere else. I rented off someone who’d bought his dream retirement home but found the commute too hard so rented it out until he could retire. Imagine if we couldn’t move somewhere without buying a house first because there were no landlords.