Generation Rent dismisses landlord exodus claiming landlords can just leave

He’s an idiot!

Twomey is right in that houses will just not disappear, they will be out of the the market for 3-6 months whilst being sold, and he doesn’t appreciate that a proportion will be convert to furnished holiday let’s & Airbnb’s, and larger properties used as HMOs will become single dwellings and on average under occupied compared with an HMO.

Therefore overall there’ll be a nett reduction in properties occupied full time of any tenure. And reduction in stocks in the PRS (albeit maybe higher in owner occupiers). This will be poor outcome for Tenants who Twomey is supposedly being the voice for with rising rents and poorer availability/choice.

This Twomey guy is profoundly ignorant about economics, pricing and supply and demand. Why are landlords leaving the PRS? Because the costs and risks due to the RRB, EPC rules and high interest rates now far outweigh any potential profit.

So, why would another landlord be dumb enough to step in and buy the property, unless they intend to redevelop it and/or charge much higher rent? These actions might in the medium term mean their return on capital becomes economically viable compared to other types of investment. But how do the bulk of tenants benefit from the increased rent? It’s the same as Build to Rent – these are cherry-pickers, not providers of mass housing to lower earners who can’t afford to buy.

Or his other idea: how will FTBers be able to afford to buy ex-rental houses, especially in pricey town and city centres where renters often like to live for the amenities and closeness to work and transport links? How will they afford to buy off a landlord, when they can’t afford to buy on the open market anyway? It would require a national crash in all house prices, as landlords don’t have the numbers to crash the market on their own, and there are stronger natural brakes in the market now that so many houses are owned outright: many sellers seeing price falls just take their houses off the market now, where in the past high unemployment and high interest rates would have made them forced sellers, straight into the teeth of a crash.

No, landlords will sell into the open market, mainly to non-FTB owner-occupiers. There may be some softening of prices, and if former tenants do buy, it will be through their own savings and the Bank of Mum and Dad and perhaps some loosening of the mortgage rules. But any tenants hoping for cheap rentals and HMOs are going to be squeezed harder and harder as landlords sell up. Homelessness, moving back in with parents, poorer labour mobility are all going to get much, much worse.

I don’t understand one thing why banning section 21 is a problem. Unless property is not damaged and he is paying rent correctly, then there is no need to worry about evicting tenant. Both are covered outside of section 21 anyway. If he is a rude tenant why it is a problem. You are not going to loose your house or income because of that. Going to court is going to impact tenant lot than you. He will get ccj in his credit record which will impact further tenancy or loans. Also get your tenants reported to credit bureau. If they miss they will get low score.

The government is all about distracting the public away from the fact it cannot provide housing and so demonise landlords to draw away attention. The second part is to remove all mum and dad landlords who will end up selling to the large corporates who will eventually hold the entire rental market and later will use a combination of tax payer subsidies and with the benefits that aren’t available to small investors.
The government knows full well that renters are a mix of those struggling to get on the housing market, they’re key in stopping them with increased rents though crippling policies at present, those who have bad credit history, those who simply don’t want to buy but typically want to blame landlords for their rent levels, those who cannot afford to buy, those who cannot save, those who do not want the responsibility of running and maintaining a house, those who don’t qualify for mortgages.
If there is a shortage of homes on the market why do many sit on the market for months and why would the government stop landlords from renting for 12 months if they cannot sell the rental, they claim there’s a shortage. All in all it’s all one big lie and lots of contradictions all to remove small investors, put buying out of the reach of most as rents prevent saving for a deposit and have corporates run social housing as we move to a renting society like other European countries.

I’ve let all my tenants, including long term ones, go.
I’m too old for all this sh1t.
The money from the Property sales is in the bank (apart from investing in a classic car and treating myself to a top of the range luxury motorhome) and earning me 5% without all the hassles and worry about what these idiots in Government will do next.
I’m sorry for the Tenants but I had to do it. It’s like a weight off my chest.

That statement is not going to age well.

Reply to the comment left by Godfrey Jones at 27/06/2025 – 13:35
Yes, after 25 years being at tenants’ beck and call, I suddenly realised I have money to spend and time to spend it, with no worries, and wonder why I waited so long to enjoy what I’ve worked for. 3 years ago my younger sister died suddenly, with her massive final salary pension untouched. She could and should have retired years before!

I asked myself… why did you get into BTL? Because Gordon Brown wrecked my pension plans and I saw BTL as a way of supplementing it. But I retired 3 years ago, and it worked. I now have a decent pension and investment pot, so no further reason for BTL. I’m not there for tenants. Their life is their look out.

Mr Twomey is not in the real world and I suspect his predictions are based on some fictional understanding of the rental sector.
Whilst there doesn’t appear to be a published impact report of Landlords leaving the sector it’s quite apparent that the sale of rental property means an obvious reduction in available property to rent.
Twomeys naively worded assumption that the LL’s exit will enable first time buyers to acquire a home is not totally correct due to mortgage qualification and affordability criteria etc . What is more certain is that supply and demand for rental property in a shrinking availability environment will see rental homes soar in price and the responsibility to house excess people will end up at the councils door who are under pressure affording to accommodate a huge influx of uninvited illegal migrants.
It sounds like the perfect storm and probably is amplified by the arrogance of an inexperienced minister dismissing the impending storm out of hand.
The government should be proactive in assisting and encouraging LL’s to remain in the sector and expand property portfolio rather than dismissing the impending shortfall and the resulting chaos it will create

Twomey will never contemplate that’s he’s an idiot, but the NRLA are at fault here too in not challenging him properly. Yes there will be properties for first time buyers, but there’s no guarantee that other landlords will buy in to the market, Howe er the housing market is flat at the minute because interest rates are too high, so it’ll be the commercial investors with money that will buy these properties up, and may well take up Sercos offer of guaranteed rents, so British born tenants will miss out. Labour have repealed the homeless act, and that’ll just let migrants camp in tents so that councils don’t need to house them, but Brits will still struggle to find properties to rent, whatever Twomey thinks.