According to haart estate agents, the Government must start supporting landlords in the private rented sector (PRS) or risk seeing a decline in much needed rental property listings due to landlords exiting the market.
CEO of haart estate agents, Paul Smith commented: “Mortgage lending jumped a huge 8% on the year in July as existing homeowners sought to seal themselves into a lower rate ahead of the Bank of England’s interest rate hike.”
But, he said that landlords are still “feeling the pinch” with 12% fewer landlords buying property than the same time last year.
“The buy-to-let sector is a fundamental part of the UK property market, and with fewer landlords, we are seeing rents rise. The government must stop penalising those who are willing to invest in the rental market and stop its needless crackdown on the sector” he added.
The estate agency fears that the various regulatory and legislative changes that have been introduced over the past few years – which eat in to landlords’ profits – will lead to a sharp rise in rents.
These changes include the Government’s decision to restrict mortgage interest relief to the basic rate of income tax and add a 3% levy on stamp duty for the purchase of additional homes.
We reported recently that that every month, 3,800 BTL properties are sold by landlords. These figures are the first recorded decline in the number of rental properties in 18 years.
