A recently held industry survey finds that more than a third of private landlords will sell up and quit the sector if rent controls came into force in their area.

Image credit: Unsplash

The data from the trade body’s poll found that 37 per cent of private sector landlords would sell properties if authorities were given power to introduce rent controls for existing and future tenancies.

The organisation states that such a high percentage of landlords leaving the sector will have “a devastating impact on the supply of homes to let at a time of ever-increasing demand.”

The Scottish Parliament has just boasted that the ‘emergency’ rent controls will not be removed as long as the SNP and Greens partnership remains in power.

The UK Government has made it abundantly clear it has no intention of introducing rent controls and Labour’s previous shadow housing secretary has also waved away rent controls, this is in spite of London Mayor Sadiq Khan repeatedly calling for rent controls across the city.

The Labour Welsh Government has recently published a Green Paper calling for some form of rent controls to be “explored”.

The trade body claims that landlords who took part in the survey had slightly different plans on what they would do if rent controls were introduced dependant on the type of controls.

The three different type of rent controls featured in the poll were:

First generation rent controls – a 'hard' control in which rents are fixed and remain frozen;

Second generation rent controls – rent increases are limited to a set percentage or pegged to inflation; or

Third generation rent controls – these allow initial rents (such as new tenancies) to be freely set by landlords or with a very light restriction but limit rent increases within tenancies.

Following the results from the poll the trade body stated that rent controls will drastically reduce rental housing stock will not encourage landlords to upgrade their properties, and the possibility of existing tenants staying longer in their ‘homes’ thereby impacting new and younger renters finding accommodation.