Why I may quit buy to let – a landlord explains their S21 dilemma
A private landlord has gone on record to explain her own dilemma with a tenant – and why the government’s scrapping of Section 21 may threaten the private rental sector.
The landlord – Rosy Hopkins – is a National Landlords Association member who is considering quitting the buy to let sector.
“We’re currently experiencing difficulties with a hostile tenant who regularly calls us at silly hours, swears at us, and generally swears at and is abusive towards other tenants. We are again issuing a Section 21 to evict him” she says.
“Without recourse to Section 21 we would undoubtedly have lost several decent tenants and would be stuck. I appreciate they are in contravention of their leases, but also understand how difficult it could be to prove that.
“We are actively considering selling our properties, which is no doubt what the government is trying to achieve. After the new tax burdens, which may well cripple us, and steal our hard-earned retirement income, and all the new/threatened legislation, we have just about had enough.”
Her case has been put forward by the NLA to coincide with shock figures showing that overall landlord confidence has reached a record low.
In its member survey for the second quarter of this year, only 29 per cent of landlords said their business expectations for the next three months were good or very good.
This is the lowest level since the survey began in late 2006.
The NLA’s measure of confidence levels dropped significantly in the second half of 2015 in response to George Osborne’s changes to landlord taxation, but had until now remained above 35 per cent.
The association says this represents a marked shift in confidence since the government announced its proposal to abolish section 21 no-fault evictions.
“With the amount of change that has occurred over the last four years and now the proposal to abolish no-fault evictions without any certainty that the courts will be able to cope with the increase in cases this will create, it’s no wonder that landlords are pessimistic about their future” according to NLA chief executive Richard Lambert.
“Landlords need to be confident in their own businesses for the private rented sector to function properly. Given that it’s expected to compensate for the lack of social housing, it is vital that this confidence is restored” he adds.
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