As the House of Lords gears up to debate the Renters (Reform) Bill today, they are being warned that landlords selling properties is the biggest challenge facing renters in the UK.

That’s according to the National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA) is pointing to government figures.

The data reveals that 45% of households that needed council support to prevent homelessness in the second half of 2023 did so because their landlord planned to sell.

This dwarfs the next most common reason, repossession for re-letting at just over 20%.

The single biggest challenge renters face

The NRLA’s chief executive, Ben Beadle, said: “Landlords selling up is the single biggest challenge renters face.

“The only answer is to ensure responsible landlords have the confidence to stay in the market and sustain tenancies.

“As Peers debate the Renters (Reform) Bill, it is vital that it works for landlords as well as tenants.”

He added: “As it stands, it would achieve this balance. We are calling on Peers to support the Bill to give the sector certainty about the future.

“More broadly, all parties need to accept widespread calls for policies to boost supply in the private rented sector.”

‘Landlords selling properties is a leading cause of homelessness’

The organisation’s call comes after Generation Rent warned that ‘landlords selling properties is a leading cause of homelessness’.

Research from NRLA backs this claim up and a poll of landlords found that 83% say that tenant demand is ‘strong’.

Also, 31% of landlords say they plan to reduce portfolio sizes – compared with just 9% who plan to buy more properties.

The NRLA says its findings are supported by Rightmove which recently said that the PRS needs 50,000 properties to bring supply back to pre-pandemic levels.

Generation Rent hits back at the NRLA’s ‘warning’

However, Generation Rent has hit back at the NRLA’s ‘warning’ to peers that landlords will sell up as they prepare to debate the Renters (Reform) Bill.

Its chief executive, Ben Twomey, said: “Landlord lobby groups have taken to quoting Generation Rent’s concern that ‘Landlords selling properties is a leading cause of homelessness’, and are cynically using this to hold parliament hostage to the idea that they will sell up over even the smallest strengthening of tenants’ rights.

“Long term, if landlords sell up it makes little difference to the housing market.

“Bricks and mortar do not sink into the ground, and the home could be bought by another landlord, a first-time buyer or even repurposed for social housing.

“There will always be some landlords wanting to sell, for example because they are retiring or because their mortgages have become too costly.”

He adds: “The short-term issue is that tenants have an appalling lack of protection when landlords choose to sell up – even under the new Renters (Reform) Bill as proposed, tenants would only have two months’ notice when evicted for this reason.

“Landlord groups won’t lift a finger to improve this position for tenants, while using the risk of homelessness to demand their own concessions from government.

“That is why the government should incentivise homes being sold with sitting tenants, or to them if they can afford to buy. They should also ban evictions based on sales for the first two years of a tenancy.

“Meanwhile, relocation relief should be offered if renters are evicted through no fault of their own, so that they do not need to pay the final two months’ rent while they save and look for a new home.”

Blog Post from Property 118

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