Residential landlord Grainger has praised the government’s Renters’ Rights Bill as a step in the right direction for the private rented sector and believes that it will do very little to stop rents rising in the near future.

The bill – second reading is scheduled for tomorrow – would introduce a range of measures aimed at balancing the scales between tenants and landlords, including the abolition of Section 21 evictions.

“The government’s proposals to reform the planning system to stimulate housing supply and raise standards in the rental market is equally welcome and aligns to Grainger’s strategy and existing standards,” said Helen Gordon, chief executive of Grainger.

The firm, which has seen its profits soar in recent years thanks to the growing demand for rental properties in the UK, forecasts that rents will continue to rise over the year ahead due to the supply-demand imbalance in the PRS.

Grainger, which has a portfolio of about 12,000 homes, reported like-for-like rental growth of 6.3% for the year to the end of September.

While this is down from 7.7% growth the previous year, Grainger said the rental market in the UK has been buoyed by a “rapidly accelerating growth in demand, whilst supply remains constrained”.

It said rental growth will ease back in 2024-25, but continue to be supported by high wage growth.

Gordon commented: “Whilst we expect rental growth to ameliorate somewhat, we still expect levels to be above the long term historic average for 2024-25.

“Rental growth in 2024-25 will be underpinned by continuing high levels of wage growth throughout the UK and particularly in our target customer demographics and geographical locations. “Affordability remains healthy and customer satisfaction scores remain high, demonstrating the sustainability of our rental income growth going forward.”

The company said it was “fully let” across its houses, with 97.4% occupancy as at the end of last month, down from 98.6% a year ago.

Comparable rental growth of new lets across its portfolio stood at 5.6% in the past year to 30 September, with renewed lets at 6.8%, the firm said. Grainger, which added 1,113 new homes to its portfolio in the year, will report full-year results on 21 November.