House share portal SpareRoom has conducted a series of polls for insight about the UK rental market.
One poll revealed that 94% of landlords have no confidence in the current Government’s approach to housing. Another found 36% of respondents plan to reduce their portfolio this year and a further 16% plan to leave the rental market entirely in 2022.
In a third poll by SpareRoom they asked landlords and agents what they believe will most likely help the rental market. The responses included:
- Reverse the changes to buy to let mortgage interest tax relief – 72%
- Scrap the 3% Stamp Duty surcharge for landlords – 66%
- Scrap the Renters Reform Bill – 56%
- Better enforcement on criminal landlords – 45%
- Build more houses – 43%
- Make the rogue landlord database public – 42%
- Introduction of a national landlord register – 22%
- Freeze rents – 4%
The final poll revealed that the Government has almost entirely lost the confidence of tenants too, with 95% saying they have no confidence in the Government’s approach to housing.
Matt Hutchinson, SpareRoom director, comments: “The UK is currently in the grip of a rental crisis. Demand for rooms is at an all-time high, while supply has dropped to a 9-year low. That’s making life incredibly hard for tenants trying to find a place to live.
“Government’s plan to squeeze smaller buy to let landlords out of the market seems to be working, but there doesn’t seem to be a plan to replace them with an alternative. Unless something changes, we’re looking at a very bleak period for the rental market. If it’s not working for landlords and it’s not working for tenants, the question has to be, who is it working for?”