PRS crisis deepens as landlords plan exit and rents surge

Only 67% believe that PRS is worse?
Who are 33% who think they will thrive? Or they have no idea what is coming in?

Reply to the comment left by Whiteskifreak Surrey at 06/02/2025 – 10:27I am one of the few who will thrive, more by good luck than judgement. I have a modest portfolio of 80 small and affordable properties without any borrowings. Many years ago I upgraded most to EPC C with a couple of Ds so no letting restrictions. I upgraded all the electrical supplies during Covid, just in time to be told that the upgrades were not strictly necessary. Soon all my properties will have new kitchens and bathrooms with a proportionate rent way above the Local Housing Allowance, but of course all benefit tenants will be considered on their merits to conform with the law.
My tenants, who in the past flitted from property to property, now stay put for they know that there is nowhere to go. They tolerate annual increases in rent because they know that there is no free property in the area except for a few slum level flats.
I have made no profit in the past ten or so years, just managing to keep my head above water. All this is largely due to the excessive and often stupidly vindictive legislation which has resulted in the demise of many of my fellow landlords.

Reply to the comment left by TheMaluka at 06/02/2025 – 10:56
I am not sure how making no profit over 10 years is thriving, most of us could not continue to operate like that – hence the exodus

Reply to the comment left by Paul Essex at 06/02/2025 – 12:02
I run my properties as a retirement project which keeps my brain active, so am content to make little profit. Income Tax paid last year was just over £1,000. Legal bills were in the tens of thousands (I won every case).
All the rental income goes into maintaining the property and increasingly fighting needless legal battles with dissident tenants and their legal aid lawyers.

Reply to the comment left by Paul Essex at 06/02/2025 – 12:02
I thrive where others fail because I manage to keep my tax bill below 100%, many of my colleagues pay well in excess of 100% thanks to the warped logic of George Osborne, these are the landlords who are failing.

Landlord exodus threatens the UK’s PRS.
Looks like the governments policy is working then.

There are not enough houses ( shortage 17 million based on Predict and Provide ) plus population expansion to 83 million including 13 million here illegally versus inadequate build rate.
The optimum population for the country is 35 million based on our physical and financial resources and determined by Harold MacMillan’s secret survey conducted in 1953.
80% of current account holders have less than £500 gbp in their accounts at any one time ( Source:GE Money surveys 2017 and 1990).
Things since the budget under Rachel Reeves have got worse .
There are therefore insufficient houses,too many people who cannot afford houses to either buy or rent and successive governments and the broken court system have sought to blame landlords and impoverished them for political gain.
The solution is cheap hostels ,prefabricated houses and 3D printing and the use of German style construction robots.
The solutions will not be employed so we will have a clogged up court system a massive increase in homelessness, and more vexatious tenants labouring under the illusion that the world owes them a living and a home.
Landlords with under 100 houses will not be able to operate properly so those with fewer houses need to either operate abroad or look at better performing assets such as whiskey,gold,silver,cryptocurrency mining or shares they know something about or defence stocks ..World War 3 is coming.
Buy to let for the little guy is essentially dead so landlords can and should exit and leave the government and it’s economic illiterates the fallout that is coming .

Reply to the comment left by TheMaluka at 06/02/2025 – 13:50
How can a tax bill be 100% (and 100% of what?), and why would you operate in a way that has given you no profits for 10 years? What kind of retirement planning is that?

You would have made a lot more money for a lot less hassle if you just invested in tracker funds, or even savings accounts.

Also, BTL properties are very ‘sticky’ for IHT purposes, and you could end up paying both CGT and IHT if you sell properties and then gift the net proceeds, but die within 7 years.

Reply to the comment left by TheMaluka at 06/02/2025 – 13:50
The government is intent on further damaging measures so whilst you may be winning today they have people like you in their sights .
Sooner or later they will find new ways to tax us all and will create a lot of financial difficulty for landlords between now and 2029 at which point they will be out of office.

Reply to the comment left by Ryan Stevens at 06/02/2025 – 16:33
My property has never been about making money, it is my retirement ‘project’. I have taken care of inheritance tax concerns.

As to 100% tax, surely you have heard of Section24? It is possible, and in some cases inevitable, to pay more than 100% tax on gross income; I know several landlords who are caught in the Section 24 trap.