Housing Minister denies Renters’ Rights Bill will harm supply
7 months ago | 29 comments
Landlords to be abolished by the Green Party
9:22 AM, 6th October 2025, 7 months ago
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Green Party members have voted to ‘seek the effective abolition of private landlordism’ at their autumn conference in Bournemouth, signalling a sharp shift in the party’s housing stance.
The motion, ‘Abolish Landlords’, won strong backing from delegates and now forms official party policy.
It pledges to curb private renting through heavy regulation and higher taxes, including rent controls, scrapping Right to Buy, and levying business rates on Airbnbs.
Empty properties would face double taxation, while Buy to Let mortgages would be ended.
Local authorities would also gain the right to buy homes when landlords sell, where properties fail insulation standards, or if they remain vacant for more than six months.
Reduce the PRS
Carla Denyer, the Green MP for Bristol Central, said: “Despite its eye-catching title, it does not actually ‘abolish’ landlords.
“It does, however, address the housing crisis, empowers tenants and improves their wellbeing.
“It contains a range of policies which, over time, would reduce the proportion of the housing market that is privately rented, and increase the proportion of socially rented homes.”
She added: “The motion also calls for the mass building of council homes, which was another manifesto commitment, and adds a proposal for a state-owned housing manufacturer to support these efforts and innovate on housing design and manufacture.”
Green MP landlord
The proposal was introduced by party member Alexander Sallons, who admitted it would be ‘controversial in the party’ because ‘many members are still uncomfortable with the bold and decisive tone’.
However, the motion’s focus on landlords has highlighted potential tensions within the party.
One of the Greens’ four MPs, Adrian Ramsay, rents out a property in Norfolk, according to the parliamentary register of interests.
The Daily Mail reports that the home provides more than £10,000 a year in rental income.
Mr Ramsay said on social media: “I co-own a property with my ex-wife, which we used to live in.
“I don’t make a profit from it as I have kept the rent below market rate. I don’t intend to be a landlord long-term.”
PRS ‘has failed’
Landlords might be interested to learn that the motion states: “The private rental sector has failed, it is a vehicle for wealth extraction, funnelling money from renters to the landlord class.
“This motion makes it clear Green Party policy is to seek the effective abolition of private landlordism and our support for building council housing.”
It concludes: “The Green Party believes the existence of private landlords adds no positive value to the economy or society, that the relationship between landlord and tenant is inherently and intrinsically extractive and exploitative.”
Tags:
abolish landlords motion, Buy to let, Carla Denyer, Green Party housing policy, private landlordism, right to buy, UK Rent Controls, Zack Polanski
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Member Since September 2015 - Comments: 12 - Articles: 4
3:36 PM, 27th October 2025, About 6 months ago
Abolishing private landlords would not end the housing crisis; it would accelerate it.
The Green Party appears to forget that over 4.6 million UK households rely on the private rented sector, and that small landlords (owning 1–3 properties) make up more than 80% of the market.
These aren’t faceless corporations; they’re ordinary people supplementing pensions, supporting families, and providing housing that the state stopped building decades ago.
The claim that landlordism “adds no positive value” is detached from fiscal reality. According to HMRC’s 2024 receipts, property income tax alone raises over £17 billion a year, not including CGT (£18.5 billion), Stamp Duty (£18 billion) and Corporation Tax on property companies (£97 billion total CT pot).
Abolish landlords and you collapse that revenue base, precisely when the Treasury faces its largest deficit since 2008.
The idea that councils can simply step in and buy homes is equally naïve. Local authorities are already burdened by £130 billion of debt (ONS 2025) and face record homelessness costs. Forcing mass sales or conversions would deter investment, shrink supply, and push rents higher, exactly the opposite of what tenants need.
If the goal is fairness, reform within the current system works better:
Restore mortgage interest relief, or offer targeted rent stabilisation tied to energy-efficiency upgrades.
Expand council-private partnerships that fund new social housing stock with private capital.
The Greens’ language may sound righteous, but the economics are reckless. You don’t fix the housing crisis by destroying its supply base.
You fix it by balancing private incentive with public oversight — and by remembering that every landlord who sells up leaves one less home for a renter who still needs somewhere to live.
Member Since May 2018 - Comments: 2025
4:02 PM, 27th October 2025, About 6 months ago
Reply to the comment left by Simon Misiewicz FCCA, ATT, SWW, MBA at 27/10/2025 – 15:36
This is of course correct. Restoring mortgage interest relief would make sense. We all know that the EPC system needs reform but if the government is still committed to it I suspect that it would be simpler to provide an incentive to move properties to band A rather than trying to penalise property owners from being at Band D.
The Green Party proposals aren’t sustainable.
Member Since May 2018 - Comments: 2025
4:44 PM, 31st October 2025, About 6 months ago
Reply to the comment left by Beaver at 27/10/2025 – 16:02
The iPaper just reported that labour plans to sell off ‘affordable’ housing to private buyers:
https://inews.co.uk/news/housing/labour-plans-sell-affordable-homes-private-buyers-4008527#:~:text=The%20Government%20will%20allow%20developers,The%20i%20Paper%20has%20learned.
So even though the Green Party still lives in fairyland it looks as though with the departure of Angela Rayner an element of realism may have just crept into government: It would seem that the ‘affordable housing’ wasn’t affordable because councils, social housing providers and the government couldn’t afford them.
Anybody out there still believe in Happy Ever Afters? If so, join the Green Party. You’ll be in good company.