I think a key problem is that people often talk about what ‘should’ happen.
In an ideal world there would be lots of social housing available at subsidised rents with secure tenures.
In an ideal world there would be more housing supply generally and it would be cheaper.
In an ideal world more people could afford to buy.
In an ideal world no-one would be given notice unless they did things like not pay rent or caused damage.
In an ideal world it would be possible to let your property and have it back whenever you needed to sell.
In an ideal world there woukd be no tenants who stopped paying or damaged houses.
In an ideal world d the court system would quickly deal with dodgy LLs and dodgy tenants.
But we don’t live in that situation. We have to work within and live within the housing market as it exists, and extreme solutions that people suggest such as no-one should be allowed to own 2 properties, or there shouldn’t be any private LLs, or no BTL landlords, or no giving notice…..just aren’t going to happen. It seems very hard to for some people to think about the wider issues or the challenges facing tenants or the issues facing LLs. Deciding the ‘other side’ are simply evil is naive and unhelpful, but trying to understand the challenges facing both tenants and LLs is necessary….both need each other.
I think society is becoming more and more polarised. It’s due to many many things. The private rented sector is vital because without it there won’t be enough rental properties for the many who want to or need to rent. Tenants will always need somewhere to live. At the same time, for most LLs, there is a degree of choice about whether to be a LL or not. If the numbers don’t stack up or it feels too unreliable or too difficult, LLs will sell up and put their money into savings or some other investment that is less effort. They might be a bit sorry to do that, but they have homes and their lives will continue. But for tenants with a reducing rental stock….well the consequences are far far more severe. Already rents are rising and people are finding it’s almost impossible in some areas to get a place.
A crisis is on the verge of happening and already happening for lots. More and more won’t be able to afford rent. And as more people become homeless or on the verge of it, there won’t suddenly be a big increase in social housing. That is what people would like, but that’s not going to be there in the next 5 years if ever. And yet all those people who want and need to rent still need somewhere to live. So those private LLs are needed, whether people consider them the spawn of the devil or not.
It needs to be worthwhile for LLs. No doubt there are lots who couldn’t ever really afford it and relied on low interest rates, and really do need to exit the market, as the rents don’t cover higher mortgage charges, all the costs invovled in running a rental and leave something to make it worthwhile. Over time, there will be less private LLs with 1 property which is heavily mortgaged. There will be fewer LLs with more properties who own them all or mostly outright and have worked out the numbers and can cope when interest rates rise or regulations change and increase the costs….to a point. But as that shift happens, probably less properties overall will be rented out and more move into private hands. That will still cause problems for tenants with high rents and under supply.
If the government isn’t prepared to build or buy housing so it can be social housing with secure tenures and possibly subsidised rents, then the private rentals sector will always be vital. And the government don’t want to build or create more social housing because of the vast costs invovled in doing that and because it doesn’t fit with any party ideology. So people are stuck with the private rental market.
For LLs this means that the downsides and risks of void periods, risks of tenants who don’t pay or damage the property and are hard to get out, of costs which wipe out any short term profit, of the threat of new and expensive regulations ….all remain. Many people find it hard to sympathise or understand these issues.
For tenants, the downsides of high rents, insecure tenancies into the long term which mean having to move frequently when you don’t want to, difficulties in getting new properties, poorly maintained properties all remain. I think most people acknowledge these difficulties, although many are surprisingly unsympathetic to the impact of insecure tenancies into the long term.
We don’t live in a society where an affordable and secure home into the long term is a given unfortunately. Without doubt, it’s worse by far for tenants than LLs. But LLs individually are rarely the key to the problems tenants face. The system itself has so many inherent flaws within it.