Data from the National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA) shows that demand for rental property is at a record high.
The association warns that government efforts to dampen investment in rental housing are fuelling a supply crisis, hiking rents and making homeownership more difficult to afford.
According to new data from research consultancy BVA/BDRC for the NRLA, 62% of private landlords in England and Wales reported a record high tenant demand in the first quarter of 2022.
Over the same quarter, more landlords sold property (11%) than purchased new property (8%).
Government data shows that private rents across the UK increased by 2.4% during the first quarter of 2022. This was the largest annual growth in rents since July 2016, although still much less than inflation, which stood at 6.2% over the same period.
The NRLA is calling on the Government to scrap the Stamp Duty levy on the purchase of additional properties. According to Capital Economics, removing it would see almost 900,000 new private rented homes made available across the UK over the next ten years.
Ben Beadle, Chief Executive of the NRLA, comments: “Ministers have been repeatedly warned of the damage that would be caused if they continued to attack the private rented sector.
“The supply crisis is completely counterproductive to the Government’s mission to turn renters into homeowners. By suppressing supply whilst demand increases, with rents going up as a result, they continue to make it harder for tenants to save for a home of their own.
“The Chancellor needs to wake up to a crisis of the Government’s own making, scrap the tax on new homes to rent and review other measures which add to a landlord’s costs.”