The latest report from a think tank states that landlords private rental properties must be “acquired” for social housing.

Not content with this recommendation the report goes further and wants the government to introduce stricter and higher tax penalties, regulation of better private sector standards, and even the possibility of introducing compulsory purchase orders of private landlord properties and being switched over to the social housing sector.

New Economics Foundation is the report’s author which claims that because of Margaret Thatcher’s Right to Buy scheme introduced in 1980 there has been a constant flow of homes from the social sector being snapped up and turned into PRS properties.

The NEF report says: “This has skewed our entire housing system, generating significant unmet, acute housing need and trapping millions in the private rental sector. It follows that reversing the flow of these transactions ­– from the PRS to the social sector – offers a clear path to resolving many of the deeply entrenched problems in England’s housing system.”

The foundation says that besides the government ‘encouraging’ greater numbers of newbuild social homes, all private rented homes must have their energy efficiency measures upgraded and then be “acquired” for social housing.

The ‘stink tank’ says: “Doing so equitably, sustainably and on a sufficiently large scale is far from straightforward, but the prize – improving the affordability and quality of PRS accommodation and delivering the social homes we so desperately need – is significant.”

However the real crux of the NEF report is not  mentioned in the executive summary but hidden away at the end of document.

It says: “We will explore whether specific tax loopholes affecting landlords can be closed. This includes exploring whether taxes to which PRS landlords are currently subject – such as capital gains tax – can be reformed to encourage PRS stock transfer to social landlords. This could also close the gap between the higher rates of tax currently imposed on income than on capital.

“Furthermore, encouraging the professionalisation of landlords to provide higher-quality services means they ought to be treated as other self- employed persons are, and we will therefore also explore whether national insurance should be imposed on all PRS landlords, including short-term lettings.

“We will also examine reforms to short-term and holiday lettings regulations, as well as those regarding overseas property investment.

“Such proposals could therefore have the simultaneous effect of raising additional revenue from which to fund investment in upgrading and acquisition, enhancing fairness across the taxation system, improving the equitable distribution of housing, while also encouraging the overarching goal of transferring stock from the private rented sector to the social sector.”

And the foundation does not shy away from threatening to use Compulsory Purchase Orders in its bid to requisition private homes for social housing tenants.

It says: “We will therefore explore how councils can use revised CPO laws to force PRS landlords to adhere to enhanced lettings standards (deducting the costs of required remedial works from market valuations, for example) while also repurposing PRS accommodation as social housing.

“Furthermore, we will examine whether local authorities could obtain an equity stake in properties on which they can charge social rent and in order to fund any required remedial work, first buyer rights for these properties when the landlord wishes to sell, and/or whether they ought to receive a discount for purchasing it.