Shelter’s “ongoing assault” on the state of private rental housing in the UK is “plain wrong”, insists the Residential Landlords Association (RLA).
Shelter’s Statements About Private Rental Housing are “Plain Wrong”, Says RLA
The RLA is responding to yesterday’s report from the homelessness charity that over one in four homes are in an unacceptable standard. The study focused on the instability and insecurity of living in private rental housing.
However, the RLA has highlighted statistics that show that 82% of tenants in the private rental sector are satisfied with their homes, which is higher than in the social rental sector.
These figures were taken from the annual English Housing Survey.
While Shelter refers to the instability that those living in private rental housing face, the most recent English Housing Survey shows that, on average, tenants are living in their homes for four years. Additionally, a version of the survey published last year found that landlords end just 8% of tenancies.
The Vice Chairman of the RLA, Chris Town, says: “Shelter is once again making extravagant claims about the standard of all housing in Britain, let alone private rented property.
“Though we share Shelter’s ambition for every rented home to be of a decent standard, the answer is not more regulation.
“With over 400 regulations covering the sector, what is needed is not new powers, but better enforcement of existing powers to root out the crooks, rather than tying the majority of good landlords up in excessive red tape.”
He concludes: “The most effective way of ensuring housing is affordable is to increase supply. We hope Shelter will support landlords in calling on the Government to change recent tax policies and on councils to scrap ineffective, but costly, licensing schemes, all of which discourage investment.”
Positively, the Chancellor, Philip Hammond, has pledged to put housebuilding ahead of the deficit, in a bid to solve the country’s chronic housing shortage.
However, many groups have called on the Chancellor to scrap the many tax changes that landlords currently face, as they believe that these measures will only hit those living in private rental housing.