to think those who demonised BTL landlords are (partially) responsible for rental crisis

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Many small landlords are selling because:

• mortgate interest is now only partially deductible for tax
• S21 evictions are being stopped, meaning it will be impossible to kick out bad tenants; the courts are too backed up to actually enforce any evictions even when it's allowed anyway
• Onerous EPC rules coming in which will cost huge sums to rectify
• More and more registers, inspections and paperwork

At the same time, landlords have spent the last few years being jeered as being unethical - and many MNers haven't been shy to raise their voices about that.

The tiny minority of renters fortunate enough to be able to afford a deposit and mortgage might be happy; they will have a bit more choice and a slightly lower price. For other renters they are having real problems.

Shelter and other housing charities should be campaigning for more landlord friendly policies such as easier tenant evictions and restoring full mortgage interest deductions for tax if they want to improve housing availability on a large scale, but they won't because PR-wise it will be a nightmare as their changes will be seen to disadvantage individual tenants.

Yes, there are other factors too - large scale immigration; planning system broken; not enough housebuilding; more singletons/split families and fewer intergenerational families - but landlords selling up because of government policies and societal ostracism is a major cause.

I am not a landlord but have been in the past - there is no way I would become a new landlord in the current environment.

Those who called landlords rent-seeking scum or similar should feel ashamed.

I totally agree

I agree.
I used to be a landlord - my house was my insurance in case things didn't work out with dh - had bad tenants absolute scumbag parasites.
Would never do it again in a million years

Blame the government who are changing the laws, and the government that allowed the sale of council homes at rock-bottom prices, not those who campaigned about the appalling practices of some landlords.

Tenants in the UK have few rights, they should have more protection, not less, and we should have professional landlords like they do in countries like the Netherlands and Germany. They seem to have a perfectly functional rental market despite tenants having secure tenancies and controlled rents.

I have rented, and was treated poorly with late repairs, poor insulation, no heating (and repair not being prioritised).

Registrations and inspections are needed because of shoddy practice by shoddy landlords, direct your ire at them!

Landlords had it too good for far too long, those who have good standards in accommodation won't have to worry, those with poor standards that won't pass muster will need to be upgraded and maintained, or will need to sell up if they can't afford it.

Unless you think shitty accommodation is just something people should accept?

Disagree.

The government should provide adequate social housing.

There has not been adequate social housing provision in this country since Thatcher.

So its not the fault of the landlords buying up all the starter homes and reducing that pool of properties for people wanting to even get on the property ladder?

Sure there are good ll and bad ll - but how the heck does it make those who demonised BTL landlords are (partially) responsible for rental crisis

The surge in people buying houses for BTL increased house prices and artificially boosted the market making it harder for first time buyers to get on the housing ladder.

Significantly more people would have been able to buy a property rather than rent if the housing market wasn't in the state it was in and the government wasn't so invested in protecting it.

Individual landlords might not be responsible for the real crisis facing renters, but its not like they helped matters massively either

That said we have a fucked up housing system that has multiple issues in this country. I agree that selling off the council housing and not replacing the housing stock is probably one of the biggest contributing factors.

No. Shitty landlords who made the new regulations necessary and exploited desperate people. They're the problem. When LLs can't see that, and advocate for better behaviour in their own industry, it's an issue.

Signed

A Landlord (formerly private, now social, always ethical)

What a delusional post.Shelter are a charity for people keeping a roof over their heads. How on earth would them advocating for fewer rights for tenants work to that aim?!

Landlords selling up means more housing stock for FTBs to purchase their own homes rather than having to bid against greedy cash buyers who turn properties into horrible HMOs. Good riddance.

Nothing to do with the government then?

We keep contemplating selling our rental. The only reason we haven't is we have a brilliant tenant and it's his home. But it's quickly becoming untenable to charge him a tent I consider fair and reasonable and run the flat. My ideal would be that he be in a position to buy from us, but I don't think he can afford it.

There should be no such thing as buy to let mortgages. It's stop the better off people buying up all the cheaper homes from the less better off.

That's what's caused the housing crisis, there's not enough houses to go around because more and more people are buying houses they don't need with money they don't have and getting other people to pay the bank loan.

The whole system is screwed.

Landlords are rent seeking scum and I don't feel ashamed at all to say that. They aren't doing it out of the goodness of their hearts. They're doing it to make MONEY and charging disgusting amounts of rent. I wouldn't be able to sleep at night if I was a landlord. I'm a HA tenant and private rentals in my area for the same type of property that I live in are almost double the rent that I pay. Shameful.

The government should build much more council houses so renters can actually afford to live, and stop allowing landlords to profit from people's basic needs.

*rent. Obviously. He doesn't pay me in camping equipment.

Landlords buy up housing that could be used for first time buyers, and more often than not, make a profit on the property while having someone else pay off their mortgage. The extortionate and ever-rising rental prices means that it isn't unusual for someone who is renting to struggle saving up for a house deposit, meaning they are stuck renting for the foreseeable. BTLs remove properties from the market for buyers, meaning the remaining properties for sale are in higher demand, pushing house prices up further out of the reach of those already struggling and/or renting.
People who dislike the landlords are not the problem.

I said this to my deeply left wing mil this weekend. Not a landlord but my friend is and she is selling two properties. Ok for her, she will invest in other sources. But - she is a lovely landlords, offered long term tenancies, dropped rent during covid and really take care of their house and cared about the people living in them.

Why on earth would Shelter campaign to make it easier to evict tenants? You know it's not just 'bad' tenants that get evicted right?

We have been 'no reason given' evicted twice whilst paying rent on time, having inspections and no issues whatsoever.

I'm glad LLs are being forced to sell.

Those saying that changes to section 21 means you can't evict bad tenants... what do you mean by bad tenants?
Things like breach of contract/rent arrears/ASB would surely be evictable under other clauses?

It's the fault of shitty landlords.

That said, there is a certain irony when someone I know talked about this issue and how hard it was for them as FTB, and then when selling their own house prioritised the offer that came in from a cash buyer (not a higher offer either!)

Nope. BTL landlords are parasitical on society.

That's a bit of a sweeping assumption. Sure, some landlords who buy a massive portfolio of properties, do the very minimum in terms of upkeep on the property and charge extortionate rent are not good, but not every landlord falls into that. Plenty of people rent homes for a reasonable price (albeit they will go up when mortgages do probably) and have genuine reasons for having a property available to rent. For many people who aren't sure they want to settle in a particular area and don't qualify for social housing it can be great.

The real issue is that wages haven't kept up with the cost of living so it's harder to get onto the property ladder (partly driven by landlords with multiple properties, yes) and the government doesn't provide amble social housing and/or have legislation that's fair for both renters and landlords.

I'm a HA tenant and private rentals in my area for the same type of property that I live in are almost double the rent that I pay.

It still doesn't mean they're making masses of profit. My next door neighbour lives in social housing and our properties are identical- the rent (not paid in part with HA so the full amount charged) is a fair bit less than our mortgage, and we paid a big deposit.

I support more social housing being built. I don't think any individual should be able to make any sort of profit on a basic need like housing, no matter how small.

Yes I agree. Arguably the cards were too much in landlords favour 10-15 years ago and buy to let was an issue for first time buyers and people were buying multiple properties using equity in their existing properties. That was wrong but the pendulum has swung too far the other way now. We need to get back to a balance where landlords can evict terrible tenants but good tenants benefit from protections and rent rises are reasonable for both.

How can all LL be scum?
yes they are doing it to make money but isn’t that what everyone does try to make money?
I’m a LL as I rent out my property I used to live in as I’ve moved in with my mum to care for. How can you possibly think I’m scum? I worked very hard and made many sacrifices including not having children to buy that property. I rent as fair as I can and put a lot into it to make it a nice home. I’d rather have a good tenant and make only enough to cover my mortgage which I do than make a profit. It is possibly my only pension when older as my new job is not well paid.
you don’t know every LL or their situations. Most people are just trying to better their own lives and many are accidentally LL like myself or have one property that is their best egg which considering how difficult it is to keep head above water right now, I’d say a sensible thing to do. LLs of multiple properties they are badly maintained and just pure profit are a different matter. My dad lives in a crap rented flat from a LL who inherited many properties all mortgages paid off yet still insists on putting rent up in big increments every year knowing that my dad is an OAP and in bad health and does bare minimum upkeep of the property. I think the differences in LLs are vast.

The more objectives a government intervention has, the less effective it will be at meeting them. Over the past decade or so, the government has tried simultaneously to improve conditions for renters, raise more money for the Exchequer, and punish landlords.

It should have just focused on the first but it didn't so it largely failed at all three.