With Labour making yet another new policy announcement to support renters last night, Simon Gerrard, managing director of Martyn Gerrard Estate Agents in north London, has welcomed fresh efforts to provide a much-needed boost for the rental market.

Gerrard believes that the rental market has suffered from a lack of new homes being built so Labour’s pledge to build more homes for the rental sector is highly encouraging as far as he is concerned.

The estate agent is also supportive of measures to ensure rental properties meet high standards and taking steps to make the rental market fairer and more affordable. He also highlights the shortcomings with the present tax system for landlords, which has driven many of them out of the market altogether.

Gerrard, a past president of the National Association of Estate Agents (Propertymark), said: “The rental market in the UK has suffered from a dire lack of supply and options for renters. This has been caused by both a lack of new homes being built, and by the tax regime that landlords are currently forced to deal with. It is therefore highly encouraging to see the Labour party reiterating its pledge to build more homes for the rental sector, as well as introducing further policy to create a fair, stable, and affordable rental market for both landlords and tenants.

“The current tax system has driven many landlords out of the market altogether, forcing rents upwards as there are fewer homes to rent. Policy to reign in spiralling rent prices is very welcome, and I hope that this will include reform to the tax regime to encourage landlords back to the market, thereby providing more options for renters and allowing landlords to offer competitively low rents and avoid charging large upfront guarantees.

“Creating an affordable rental market will provide both security to landlords and tenants, as ultimately the ideal situation for both parties is that a tenant is able to reliably pay to live in a comfortable home, and a landlord is not put under pressure to remove a tenant at short notice.

“It is also important that renters in the UK are able to find good quality, comfortable homes which they can afford to run, and so it is pleasing to see the Labour party taking steps to ensure that landlords keep living conditions of rental properties up to a high liveable standard, as well as reducing the strain of bills and running costs for those in the rental sector.”

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