I agree the rental sector needs to work better. Government need to take responsibility for this.
The trouble is, the government is nowhere near to the idea that more social housing should be provided by government. Until they are willing to do this and supply it (not looking ever likely to be honest) then there will be reliance on the private rental sector.
I agree that it’s not right that tenants suffer through poor LL decision making or financial planning. Quite how that is managed though is difficult and vitally the impact in supply of rentals needs to be considered. Saying all rentals should be mortgage free or have 10 year fixed mortgage rates sounds good, but if you removed all the LLs without those conditions, the supply overall would be drastically reduced. It would be tenants who would lose most from that and lack of supply drives prices up. Of course if you want rent controls preventing that happening, even more LLs will leave the sector. You’ll end up with controlled rent but vastly insufficient supply. And the reality is that LLs do need to be able to sell up and access their money if they need to. Yes, it’s right that there are laws in place which specify notice periods and mean LLs cannot give notice before a certain proportion of a tenancy has passed, but guaranteeing a tenant can remain indefinitely or for substantially longer periods, will again mean rental properties are something don’t want to invest in, as no-one can ever say they might not need to access their money. Currently, I’d say it still takes at least a year thinking ahead for a LL to sell up. They might need to wait several months to give the legal notice, then wait for the notice to expire and the tenant to move out - which doesn’t always happen at that point and tenants legally have the right to remain and go through formal eviction procedures which can take many more months. So a LL already can’t just sell-up when they feel like it. That’s right - tenants need protections. However, to expend significantly further makes the market even less attractive.
I agree bad LLs need to be weeded out. There are LLs who dint maintain properties or stick to the law. But there are lots who don’t do these things but do other things which seem to incur the wrath of some renters. Increases in rent (reasonable amounts at the appropriate time such as a year after a contract is signed) or giving notice in accordance with the law, are things which are done legally and without which, LLs cannot continue. If the good LLs are driven out of the market because they have mortgages or they follow the law and decent AST terms about rent rises or giving notice (and by far most tenants move in because they choose to, not because they are given nitice) then exactly where will people live.
It would work if the government were working on an alternative supply of housing to replace the private rented sector…..but they are not. So yes, bad, rogue LLs who act illegally and don’t maintain properties and exploit the vulnerable should be weeded out by regulation that is actively enforced….but it is short-sighted to think all those with mortgages or without specific types if mortgage should be forced out too. Exactly where are tenants going to live if that happens?