How do landlords selling up impact the rental market?

[Rispa42]

Genuinely curious because it’s been said that one of the reasons the rental market is heating up is because BTL landlords are selling up, and therefore leading to an imbalance between supply and demand. However, if they sell, they’d either sell to another landlord (therefore not impacting supply) or to a FTB who was previously renting (therefore reducing ‘demand’). What am I missing?

I am actually really really angry about this situation as it is a human right to have a home and this governments policies are decimating that human right why there is not more outcry I think it’s because people don’t realise what is happening and when people wake up it will be too late, these companies will not be good for society it will increase slum landlords !!

I think you'll find there are plenty of well-meaning LLs in the PRS who do house those on HB and don't put rents up just because they can. The media has done an excellent job of vilifying LLs who are decent because of a minority.

In the US, there are plenty of media reports about corporate LLs using bullying tactics to get rid of 'problematic' tenants. There are already complaints here in the UK. I don't think it will be the rose-tinted future many people are predicting.

@TeenagersAngst
yes this

For what it's worth, many tenants living in a private rental shouldn't be there - they should be in social housing. The PRS serves a different purpose and used to work very well when it operated in this way - for people who wanted flexible housing options and were happy to rent privately.

That all changed with mass immigration putting huge pressure on housing and not enough new houses/social housing being provided.

@Parsley1234
I don't think the LHA rate caps the rent when you are in social housing.

Yep.

It does make me roll my eyes when 'build to rent' is hailed as this revolutionary idea. I mean...that is what council housing is. But it needs to be properly funded and regulated.

In whitby (North Yorks) new builds are being bought to rent out as holiday let's. So building more houses does not mean more houses as family homes.
Where I live it's a similar problems to the extent that the numbers in the local schools are plummeting because so many houses are now holiday let's there's far fewer family's.

@ThreeFeetTall it doesn’t need to be its cheap
It needs to be funded through the council not token bullshit virtue signalling private equity persons. I did hear that planking gets granted then at the end there is no social housing built as they’ve run out of money oh do fuck off dear jeez

Yeah, there are plenty of schemes where the 100 social homes agreed at planning magically become 7 because it became 'unaffordable'

@ThreeFeetTall unbelievable but sadly true x

Coming back to the topic, it’s BTL’s that are selling up as their business model depended on near zero interest rates.
If they sell them they will still make a lot of money out of the equity gains.

Landlords that own outright or extremely low LTV are in a great position with all the demand.

And this will be replicated by corporate LLs who may promise to offer cheaper rents to vulnerable tenants at the outset, but ensure there are get-out clauses in their contracts so they aren't tied to anything long-term.

@TeenagersAngst so transparent so obvious so bullshit
@C4tastrophe alot are selling up because of net zero ambitions the fact that after section 21 goes evictions will be impossible to get if I wanted to evict a tenant today I’d be waiting 12/18 months for a court date. As it is my tenants have been offered cheaper to buy and the nightmare one will be given around £5k to leave

@Parsley1234 why didn’t you see this coming and rebalance your property?
The S24 is years old, as are the EPC requirements.

Well the delays at court are the issue there, not the end of no fault eviction

We have no-fault evictions in Scotland, plus rent controls (basically only able to increase 3% even if your mortgage has gone up 50%), landlord licensing.

Airbnb will be effectively banned for flats starting in October.

No wonder you can't rent anywhere.

@C4tastrophe my portfolio is fine a lot of equity I just want out now what I would of left to my son I will use for a holiday let owner outright
and why I didnt see it coming well same as alot of landlords I don’t think many would of believed what a shit show is coming down the tracks hence the mass exodus and thus forth over heated rental market now people can’t get mortgages perfect storm

@thr

@ThreeFeetTall not really as that’s encouraging landlords to sell up as well

If the courts were quick then a fault based eviction is easy enough. (As long as provision in the rules for wanting the property back to live in or sell of course)
If landlords want to exit the market because they only want to use no fault evictions the presumably a more competent landlord will buy their property.

@Parsley1234 I think we would have a great chat in the pub in real life

Glut of ex-rentals sitting on the sales market in my area of C London. They require a big spend to make them into family homes. I doubt other LLs are hovering them up.

Why should the tenant pay for your mortgage costs?

In my area loads of properties brought by Chinese investors sat empty and more used as air b n b

@C4tastrophe - because LL want to make a profit.

Hence they sell when they don't.

And as others have said on this thread, it's not necessarily to FTB.