27th
Mar 2023
Rachel Maclean the recently appointed Housing minister has been quoted as saying it is not true that government policies are causing landlords to quit the private rental sector.
According to the Open Democracy website it says that earlier in the week when Maclean was confronted by anti-landlord activists in a House of Commons lobby, the minister said there is a widely held misconception that government policies were forcing landlords to quit the sector is “wrong”.
The website claims she says: “Will I challenge that narrative? The answer is yes, the narrative is wrong.”
The piece also quotes her saying: “What I believe is that there are lots of landlords in the PRS [private rented sector], and each of them will have their own reasons for being in it or not … There’s something like 2.3 million landlords in this country. If one leaves, I'm almost certain another one will come in. So this idea that our regulation will drive them out in the sector I don't accept that. I've made that case to many colleagues, MPs on the right and the left, from all parties in Parliament.”
An online publication requested comments or views from the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities regarding the minister’s accredited quotes.
There have been innumerable polls, surveys and analyses which claim that many landlords have indeed left the sector because of the ridiculous amount of tough regulations and tax changes. The incoming Capital Gains Tax change and EPC dictates for rental properties is just going to add to the exits.
A London letting agency has just stated its survey found 10 per cent of landlords in the city are planning to sell up, and 49 per cent were dissatisfied that the apparent Budget whispers of mortgage tax relief possibly being reinstated came to nothing.
A further 12 per cent of landlords said they had planned to expand their portfolios but will now not bother, however 6 per cent will carry on regardless to purchase more properties.
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