Landlords join push to halt Government ‘squeeze’ on private rented sector

Nearly 80 landlords have signed an open letter to housing secretary Michael Gove warning that his Government’s policy in the rental sector is stoking housing inflation.

The landlords include Ben Beadle, chief executive of the NRLA as well as Guy Piggott, chairman of the Humber Landlords Association, as well as some 250 other business leaders and figures from the world of property including leading letting agents.

Four of these delivered a copy of the letter to Gove yesterday at the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities in London, namely (LtoR) Kristjan Byfield, Co-Founder of The Depositary, William Reeve, CEO of Goodlord, Marco Sun, Director of Marc & Partners and Elise Monkhouse, Operations Team Lead at Reposit.

Exasperation

They are hoping the letter, which was launched last week, will alert Gove to the growing exasperation among agents, landlords and tenants over Government policy within the rental sector, which is curtailing supply, pushing up rents and making finding a property to rent nightmarish in many urban areas.

Signatories say Ministers must address the “unsustainable pressures on the private rented sector”.

The letter goes on to say: “As set out in the recent Renters’ Reform Bill White Paper, current policy objectives include improving the quality of housing and giving tenants greater peace of mind about being evicted.

“These are worthy objectives which we, and most tenants, support. But tenants – whether professionals or students – also want their housing to be affordable, and current policy appears to ignore this point.”

See all the signatories and read the letter.