War on landlords will cost Britain 50,000 rental homes this year

Britain will lose almost 50,000 rental properties this year as a result of the Government's war on landlords.

New analysis by Hamptons estate agents reveals that far more landlords are selling than buying as rental supply plummets.

On average, the market is set to lose roughly 3,800 landlord properties every month in 2022, more than double the number from two years before.

The Government has introduced a string of rule changes that have eroded landlords’ profits and rights.

Hamptons expects a total of 1.25 million housing transactions this year, based on HMRC data for the year so far. Of these, it estimated that 16pc, or 204,440, will be sales of buy-to-let properties. It expects purchases by landlords to account for 13pc of transactions, or 157,954.

This means that the market will lose 46,486 rental properties a year, or an average of 3,874 a month, although the actual loss could be smaller because of landlords’ purchases of new-build properties and new “build-to-rent” units.

A survey conducted by the National Residential Landlords Association revealed 23pc of landlords planned to cut the number of properties they let in the next 12 months, up 20pc from last year.

The trade body said the trend was a “direct result of government policy and punitive tax increases since 2015, which have shrunk the private rented sector.”

Those providing holiday lets, it added, benefit from full mortgage interest relief, “creating a distortion in favour of short-term housing over longer term rentals”.

Ben Beadle, of the NRLA, warned the exodus of landlords would drive up rents and leave tenants with less cash to save for a deposit on a house of their own.

He said: “The last six years prove it was a nonsense to think that cutting the supply of rental housing when demand is so strong would make it easier for those saving for a home of their own.

“We need a strong and vibrant private rental market that meets the needs of those who rely on the flexibility it provides, those who need somewhere to live before becoming homeowners and those for whom the promise of social housing tomorrow provides cold comfort today. The next administration needs to reset its plans for the sector.”

A spokesman for the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities said: "Good landlords have nothing to fear from our rental reforms, which will give tenants greater security to challenge unreasonable rent rises and poor practice."