Landlords sell up, leaving 2,000 homes a month facing homelessness in England

Private landlords are claiming to be selling their properties, and some blame the uncertainty created by the government’s delays in reforming rental laws.

According to official figures, more than 4/10 families that have requested temporary housing from councils after their private landlord terminated their tenancy were in a predicament due to the fact that the owner had told them they would be putting the house on the market.

A survey conducted by the National Residential Landlords Association found that almost a third (32%) of landlords intend to reduce their portfolios, and only 9% plan to increase them. The association also said that stubbornly high interest rates were another major factor in sales.

Recent data revealed that there were 145,800 children in England living in temporary housing, which is a record number and an increase of 12% over a single year. Homelessness charity Riverside stated that this is evidence of “a humanitarian crisis unfolding in towns and cities throughout England”.

Rightmove figures show that despite an increase in demand, private housing is still available for rent at a level 50,000 below the pre-pandemic period. According to the English Housing Survey, the total number of private renting households has been hovering around 4.5m for the past decade. The English population increased by 3.2 millions in that period, which is equivalent to 1.4 million households.

The Renters (Reform) Bill was debated in the House of Lords on Wednesday. The bill is meant to fulfill a government promise from five years ago that no-fault evictions would be ended. The ban was repeatedly deferred , and it will not be in effect until the summer of 2025.

Renters are demanding more reforms. They want tenants to be given four months notice instead of two, protections against eviction for the first two-years of a lease, and rent increases that do not exceed inflation or wage growth.

Delays mean that millions of tenants and their landlords are still uncertain about the rules.

Ben Beadle is the chief executive of the NRLA. He said that the biggest challenge facing renters is landlords who sell up. The only way to solve this problem is to give landlords the confidence they need to remain in the market. We call on our peers to support this bill in order to provide certainty to the sector about its future.

The Generation Rent campaign group accused the NRLA that it was trying to “hold Parliament hostage” to the idea they would sell out over the smallest strengthening in tenants’ rights.

Ben Twomey said that the sale of a property by a landlord would have little impact on the housing market in the long run. Bricks and Mortar do not sink in the ground. The home can be purchased by another landlord or a first time buyer, or even repurposed as social housing.

The group wants the government incentivised to sell homes that have tenants living there and to pay relocation payments to renters who are evicted without fault.

Polly Neate is the chief executive officer of Shelter, a housing charity. She said that “no-fault evictions” are the main cause of homelessness. Renters are still facing homelessness in the thousands five years after the government promised to ban no fault evictions. Landlords can cause tenants’ lives to fall apart with just two months notice, and without any need for a reason. It’s important that the renters’ reform bill be overhauled to give tenants a longer period of protection from eviction following their move in, and longer notice periods for them to find a new house if the landlord wants to sell the property or move in.

Neil France, who owns four family homes on the Wirral, and three multiple-occupation houses in Essex, told a reporter that five of seven families who inquired about renting his home in Merseyside, were being evicted from their homes by previous landlords.

He said: “You cannot just get rid of section 21 evictions because the courts are not prepared for it.” “Why risk being a landlord when you can put your capital into the bank at 5%?”