The government is being urged once more to do more to help support buy-to-let landlords if it is serious about tackling the homelessness crisis in this country.
Research by charity Shelter suggests more than 274,000 people are currently homeless in England.
Outside of London, Luton in Bedfordshire has the highest rates of homelessness, the figures showed.
Shelter’s chief executive Polly Neate said: “We predicted the pandemic would trigger a rising tide of evictions and our services are starting to see the reality of this now.
“We’re flooded with calls from families and people of all ages who are homeless or on the verge of losing their home.”
The end of Covid protections, eviction ban and a universal credit boost, alongside winter pressures and rising living costs, could mean thousands more vulnerable people are at risk, the charity says.
The government insisted that tackling homelessness was an “absolute priority”. However, Propertymark said that mote needs to be done to ensure that there is a sufficient volume of homes available in the PRS if it is series about addressing the growing issue.
Eleanor Bateman, policy officer at Propertymark, said: “Figures for the number of people in temporary accommodation published in Shelter’s latest report are a stark reminder of the undersupply of homes to rent in this country, and the affordability issues that this exacerbates.
“A historic lack of funding in the social rented sector, coupled with the many legislative pressures placed on the private rented sector in recent years have given rise to this situation, and drastic changes are now crucial.
“In order to ensure that the private rented sector can provide homes for those that need them, the UK government must prevent more landlords from leaving the sector – they have the perfect opportunity to level the playing field with the upcoming Renters’ Reform White Paper.”
Landlords welcome plan to use ‘private rented property to help end homelessness’
Wait until the great EPC debacle which has just been shelved for a year to 2026 (no mention on here), Nice long term tenants will be given notice to quit whilst Landlords either spend 6 months (shortage of builders/materials) on insulation (mainly walls). So where’s the newly uprooted tenants (long term families as well)going to live whilst all these changes are ongoing ? Council properties or uninsulated Victorian BnB’s, don’t forget the £30k fine for non compliance! Of course with all these properties coming onto the market a crash in sales will follow and the rental side will be in mayhem and Mr & Mrs Displaced + kids struggle to find new schools maybe even work, and of course the newly increased rents ! Landlords are not really going to prepare and stagger things as we know in probability a great U turn is coming ! ! Well done Shelter and BJ you couldn’t make up your stupidity..but I suppose it keeps thousands of civil servant in a overpaid jobs.
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Great words. And Gromit.
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“The government insisted that tackling homelessness was an “absolute priority”.
…..by introducing more and more anti-Landlord legislation (abolition of Sec.21 Notices, raising MEES to “C”), increasing taxes (Section 24), and penalising minor infringements with punitive fines.
“How can you tell when a politician is lying, their lips are moving” seems truer than ever.
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Great words. And Gromit.
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The government is being urged once more to do more to help support buy-to-let landlords if it is serious about tackling the homelessness crisis in this country.
Research by charity Shelter….
Umm, the problem is in the article…. The most notable thing of all is that Shelter keep campaigning against landlords and agents and the PRS and then government step in, give them what they want and, low and behold, the problem gets worse. Hardly rocket science is it?
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“In order to ensure that the private rented sector can provide homes for those that need them, the UK government must prevent more landlords from leaving the sector – they have the perfect opportunity to level the playing field with the upcoming Renters’ Reform White Paper.” Ha ha ha.
If past form is anything to go on, the Government will do zero, zilch, nada to prevent landlords leaving the sector but rather the opposite.
Can Ms Bateman please explain what levelling the playing field means? In whose favour?
Abolishing s21 will discourage landlords who do not want “Rent Act-style protected tenants”. I cannot see the Government rowing back from existing rules and regulations nor do I expect to see possession cases for non-payment of rent taking weeks rather than months.
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Exactly Ian, u say:
Can Ms Bateman please explain what levelling the playing field means? In whose favour?
As we know, Benefit tenants can’t leave any more cause no one will take them cause of all Anti Landlord rules. I can remember approx 2017 & before when tenants if they wasn’t happy with u or your rent, they’d be gone. Govt & Shelter has made it so that there is no choice or supply for them now.
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I agree with these comments, being a landlord is going to get harder. To MrManyUnits, you probably won’t be able to evict your tenants while you spend thousands upgrading your EPC ratings you will most likely have to put them up in a minimum 4 Star hotel while the work is carried out or be fined £30,000 which will be the going rate for any minor infringement of the coming labyrinthine regulations. Luckily right now my tenants are good. I do have one vacant property that has undergone a long refurbishment after being wrecked by a bad tenant. The price of the house is rising at a rate that nearly compensates for the loss of rent. It is tempting as I don’t need the cash right now to just leave it empty and appreciating until the council tax catches up with me and then sell hopefully at the top of the market, I won’t have to spend months evicting a tenant I won’t have to redecorate to get the best price. At current prices I could sell for the equivalent of 25 years realistic net rent even after CGT and have a future with no ongoing tenant and agent problems and no punitive regulations dreamed up by Shelter, Generation Rent and the like to comply with. I would imagine that landlords like me who are not exactly in the first flush of youth are having exactly the same thoughts and have started to put them into action.
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What would have been good is for the Government to have done less! not more. Shelter have been the prime movers of the chaos they have created. This was wholly predictable and it will be far worse once the abolition of S21 kicks in and tenants are kicked out as landlords flee the risk of housing bad tenants that will not be able to be removed. How Neate is that Polly!
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