New housing secretary must ease rental supply crisis, say UK landlords
The new housing secretary’s first port of call must be to ease the rental housing supply crisis in the UK, according to a national body of landlords today.
Freshly appointed Conservative party leader and prime minister Liz Truss yesterday outlined her cabinet, posting Simon Clarke as housing secretary.
Chief executive of the National Residential Landlords Association, Ben Beadle, warned that “damaging tax hikes and uncertainty over reforms to the private rented sector are leading many landlords to leave the market when demand for rented homes remains high.
“All this is doing is increasing rents, making it more difficult for those wanting to become homeowners.”
Average rental costs have grown 3.2 per cent in the 12-months to July, according to the government’s latest figures, representing the largest annual growth rate since 2016.
“The government needs to look afresh at the rental reform White Paper to ensure the plans in it have the confidence of responsible landlords,” added Beadle.
“This needs to include action to tackle anti-social tenants, scrapping plans that would damage the student housing market, and reforming the courts to ensure legitimate possession cases are dealt with more swiftly.”