Landlords are the solution not the problem

The vilification of landlords is not the answer to the problems created by successive governments failures and policy.

Rental property is once again making news headlines as political parties position themselves for electioneering mode.

The latest headline push is from the former leader of the Libdems pushing the issues of second homes in rural communities in Cumbria that have become second homes and rental property that landlords are moving over to holiday lefts and Airbnb.

The landlords and owners of second homes are for the political drum banging been made the new villains for serving section 21 notices to tenants with short term tenancy in rental properties.

What is getting totally overlooked by the banging of the drums by the former Libdems leader and other political parties is that the issues of affordable rental hokes in rural communities and urban areas is not the fault of private landlords who have for decades now provided with their own money properties to house the nation who required rental properties to live in.

Successive governments and more importantly local councils have for decades turned their back on providing needed new rental properties and issue especially evident in rural communities.

This has created the demand for private providers to fill the shortage of housing stock and facilitate properties to house the nation.

A lack of delivery of rental properties by government or local councils by either policy or direct construction of rental homes in communities is a failure of government both national and local.

The focus on urban rental by government and councils has created a vacuum in rural communities that private landlords with private sector money have filed.

This is now seeing a change as the private sector that is driven by economic rather than social first ethos are now finding it more economically beneficial to not provide rental homes.

New markets offer the landlords an alternative market in rural communities through a move to providing holiday rentals.

This is not driven in many cases by the desire to make more money from the same property although market forces for holiday let’s can deliver more than a rental as a home.

One of the key driving factors for many landlords is the mounting levels of new legislation and policy of government forced onto them as though these private landlords were actually the old councils housing provides.

The growing amount of tenant first policy that means the actual owner of homes have less rights over the property they have invested their own money in has been for many a tipping point to say enough and has seen a big sell off of homes by private landlords with 1 property or a small portfolio of properties.

Now government policy will see a change in the EPC standards that rental properties must reach to be rented as a private tenant property.

This will see a massive removal of housing stock especially in rural areas as landlords faced with big bills to meet the new requirements opt to take the same property and lost as a holiday accommodation property with no need to spend to upgrade the EPC standards.

This will. It just be a few houses with many big estates across the country having vast numbers of rental properties facing the need to spend millions to upgrade the housing stock to meet the new standards set by a change in government policy.

The logical private sector move is to switch to holiday accommodation.

Now no one can say this is a good outcome. However as a private home owner we would all not expect someone to update our house and is not to have to pay for it.

Yet if a private landlord was to upgrade and pass on the cost in a rent increase they would face outrage and the fury of politicians and government.

If private home owners got told by government by a date in 2023 your house must meet a set level on an EPC or you can not live in the house until it does.

What the likely outcome would be is that government would not be on power for long.

Many private landlords have invested in property and provided for years much needed housing however government policy is now making that no longer a viable option.

The available secondary market of holiday accommodation is a logical side step for the owners of the properties to take to secure the return on their private investments.

This does of course mean the issue of a decline in the available housing provision for rental properties especially in rural areas that attract tourism naturally.

The decades of lack of building new rental priorities by local government especially in rural communities is the core issue and one that there is no quick fix to address.

Any sudden change in policy to deliver rental housing by local councils now would take around 5 years before the first keys go in locks for tenants.

The issue of private rental property stock decline will only get worse as landlords face changes in government policy that make the continuation of provision of motivate rental unviable.

Government needs to recognise the vital national resource provision that private landlords make to society.

Government need to deliver encouragement and support not more legislation to discourage private landlords to open up their properties to provide homes rather than holidays to the country.

This is still only a sticking plaster fix as the societal change away from home ownership to rental is growing and we still have developers building housing stock to sell.

We need to have a change in government policy to create rental property as public landlords with a mix of government, local councils, communities and co-op landlords.

This needs to see new housing stock created and new ways of delivery and providing housing for the future.

There is a new way to do this that would be a step change in how we look at home and commutes but it will take a government with a brass set take the plan and put into operation.

Until we get that we will continue to see government politicians and local councils continue to use the private landlords as the villain escape goat as they do now.

If every private landlord said enough and served a section 21 notice to tenants tomorrow government would have a housing crisis but seen since the 1940’s to deal with.

Millions would be homeless.

So unless government politicians and local councils want to not face a hosing apocalypse they need to recognise the important role of private landlords in our society and work with them to provide homes.