Landlords are Helping to Fill Social Housing Sector Gaps, Insists RLA

Landlords are helping to fill gaps in the social housing sector, insists the Residential Landlords Association (RLA) in response to a controversial call made by the National Housing Federation (NHF).

The Chief Executive of the NHF, David Orr, has called for money paid in housing benefit to tenants in the private rental sector to be diverted to social housing providers.

But the Policy Director of the RLA has hit back, insisting that landlords are helping to fill the gaps in the social housing sector.

He said: “The private rented sector plays an increasingly important role in housing some of the poorest and most vulnerable tenants, many of whom have already been let down by social housing providers. Local authorities are now dependent on the private rental sector to meet their homelessness obligations.

“It is also wrong to claim that private landlords do not invest in new housing. Off-plan purchases by private landlords are key to unlocking new developments, providing badly needed finance for new homes, up-front.”

He continued: “The RLA has long argued that we need more homes to be built, across all tenures, but recent Government policies have stalled the housing market. Instead of seeking to split the housing sector, the NHF should be working in partnership across the housing sector, to press the Government to adopt investment-friendly policies that will kick-start housing growth.”

Do you house tenants that were once reliant on the social housing sector?

We remind all landlords with tenants on housing benefit to get up to date with the new Universal Credit scheme, which will continue to be rolled out across the UK over the end of this year and next year.

We have a comprehensive guide to the Government’s new welfare system to help you understand what it will mean for you and your tenants: https://www.justlandlords.co.uk/news/landlords-guide-universal-credit/