Short sighted OP and naive. Unless you’re been a landlord you have no idea what reality is like. I’ve rented privately for 15 years before I bought and I’ve been a landlord too.
I was a landlord. I bought a house and the market crashed. If I had sold I would have lost money so I rented it out. I had over a decade of the most horrendous tenants and it showed me the very worst in people. Every single tenant trashed the house. Every single tenant disputed the deposit after trashing the house. Here’s just a small sample: left dog regularly overnight alone so it pissed, howled and barked. It took 6 months to get rid of the smell of piss and I had to take up an entire hard floor costing me over £5k in damages. Used a saw to cut off half a kitchen cupboard. Left so much shit in that house at end of tenancy that I had to order a skip. Ignored my repeat warnings not to remove the hair blocker from the shower, then flooded the entire lounge ceiling bringing it down and lied trying to pin it on the neighbouring house. The drain man I was made to pay for confirmed the pipes were blocked with copious amounts of hair yet tenant still demanded I pay it. Set fire to lounge carpet but refused to replace. Drilled 40 plus bolts into brand new painted bedroom walls and attached fitted cupboards. Cost me £1000s to repair. One tenancy change over I opened the oven door to find I was looking at the foundations of my house. They’d refused to clean the oven once and it was that bad the bottom of it had fallen out - when I said I needed to keep some of the deposit they screamed and shouted claiming it was fair wear and tear. Ripped out bathroom ceiling lights, smashed toilet pan, never ever weeded gardens, never ever handed back the house in the same pristine and clean state they got it, refused to pay for professional cleans at changeover despite it being in the contract, smashed ceiling light shades, defaulted on rent many times.
I had 5 tenants over a decade and they were all horrendous and entitled.
And as for mould and damp. I spent thousands because of their refusal and thick as mince attitude to old Victorian houses. I told each and every one repeatedly, “This is a Victorian house. It is designed to BREATHE. That means you must open windows every single day, no matter the season. You must not dry clothes on radiators. You must open the window every single time you shower.”
But no. Every single tenant refused to do this then complained repeatedly about the damp and mould spores forming on the walls everywhere. I even paid £900 for a specialist damp surveyor who presented them with a report saying this is not rising damp, or atmy other kind of damp. It is condensation caused by the inhabitants who are not treating the house as it needs to be treated. But they never listened. I’d lived in the house for nine years before I rented it out and never had any damp at all because I opened windows every day. It’s not rocket science. The damp inspector said most of his work was due to stupid tenants.
I could go on. I never made any profit and made a loss every year for a decade. Tenants have NO IDEA the costs of being responsible for the upkeep of a house. They have no idea that stress and time lost putting right their abuse of the property.
I did not increase rent once in ten years.
selling that house was the best thing I ever did. And it was in an area crying out for rental properties. Of which now there are hardly any and the demand is greater than ever.
The new bill has driven thousands of great landlords out and you will all be even more stuffed than you already are.