Capping rents will cause landlords to leave PRS warns industry body

An industry body warns that capping rents will only deepen the current rental crisis.

The National Association of Property Buyers (NAPB) says capping rents would lead to a “stampede” of landlords quitting the sector.

They are urging the Government to look at increasing Local Housing Allowances to ease pressure in the sector.

Capping rents isn’t a silver bullet

Spokesman for the NAPB, Jonathan Rolande said: “Capping rents isn’t the silver bullet some think it is – many landlords are already quitting the sector as they are finding it hard to turn a profit.

“Capping rents on a large scale would lead to a stampede to sell, reducing the supply even further.”

Mr Rolande is calling for an end to the freeze on local housing allowance (LHA).

“An immediate increase in the Local Housing Allowance, frozen for the last three years, would help tenants meet their rental commitments in the short term.

“However, given that the rental sector is a free market, any increase in the money available could inevitably lead to further increases in rent demanded. So it should also be seen as what it is – a double-edged sword.”

Take decades to put right

His comments come after figures showed people living in the most deprived areas of the UK have seen their rents skyrocket.

Figures from Hamptons reveal, in 2019, renters in the most deprived regions were paying an average of £499 a calendar month – by 2023, that had shot up to £759.

Mr Rolande says that the rental crisis problem has been a long time in the making.

Mr Rolande continued: “In simple terms, property is just a question of supply and demand. Landlords are able to push up rent as there are too many tenants chasing too few properties. What is the solution?

“Unfortunately, like so many of the major problems affecting the UK, this has been a long time in the making – low wage growth, a lack of social housing and an undersupply of newly built homes for decades will, in turn, take decades to put right.”