Rural landlords selling up because of RRA

Rural landlords are at the centre of a political row over claims that the Renters’ Rights Act is driving them to sell up and reducing the number of homes to rent.

Northumberland County Council’s Conservative cabinet member for public safety, Cllr Gordon Stewart, claimed the new obligations were prompting owners to leave the sector.

The Northumberland Gazette reports that in recent months big estates in Rock, Blenkinsop and Blanchland have announced plans to sell rental properties.

That move has left tenants facing eviction, councillors heard.

Rural housing warning

Cllr Stewart said: “What we are seeing across Northumberland is the harsh, real-world reality of top-down legislation pushed through by this Labour government.

“Ill-thought-out legal changes are forcing responsible private estates and landlords to sell up, destroying rural rental stock in the process.”

He added that the area is facing a ‘rural housing emergency’.

He called for ministers to reconsider the impact on countryside communities before villages were permanently altered.

Village estate sales

Cllr Stewart went on to say that rural communities were particularly vulnerable because fewer homes are available to rent.

He claimed families who had lived in villages for generations could be pushed towards larger towns when landlords sell.

The councillor also warned that homes placed on the market could be bought by wealthy people from outside the area as second homes.

Labour rejects claims

His claims were challenged by Northumberland Council’s Labour leader Cllr Scott Dickinson, who is a landlord.

Cllr Dickinson said the legislation should not affect landlords who manage their properties properly.

He argued that the Renters’ Rights Act was aimed at landlords who allow tenants to live with black mould and other poor conditions.

The Labour leader said landlords still had mechanisms to remove tenants whose behaviour justified possession proceedings.

He maintained that the Act made the system fairer for tenants and landlords, citing cases where tenants had been removed before homes were advertised at higher rents.