Tenant group claims landlords selling up is not a bad thing despite housing crisis
10:27 AM, 10th October 2025, 7 months ago
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A tenant group claims landlords selling up won’t be bad for renters, as there’s no evidence of the private rented sector shrinking.
Director of the Renters’ Reform Coalition, Tom Darling, made the bold claim during a panel on reforming the private rented sector at the Conservative Party Conference.
As previously reported by Property118, landlords selling up is fuelling the UK’s housing crisis and leaving tenants with nowhere to live.
The private rented sector being smaller would not necessarily be a bad thing
To gasps in the audience, Mr Darling claimed there was no evidence that the private rented sector has reduced in size, despite numerous articles on Property118 showing this is not the case.
He claimed figures in the English Housing Survey reveal there’s no evidence the sector has reduced in size.
This is despite, the English Housing Survey revealing a rise in the number of landlords leaving the sector.
The survey reveals that in 2024, 31% of landlords were more likely to say they planned to reduce the number of properties or sell them all, compared to 22% in 2021 and 16% in 2018.
Mr Darling followed with landlords leaving the private rented sector is not “a bad thing”.
He said: “I think the private rented sector being smaller would not necessarily be a bad thing.
“Because what happens when a landlord sells their home? Who buys it? It doesn’t sink into the ground. There’s no dynamite put underneath it, so the bricks fall into the ground.”
He adds: “Someone is going to end up living there and it’s either going to be a first-time buyer or sold to another landlord or it will be bought by the council.”
The less-than-perfect tenant loses out when the landlord sells
Mick Roberts, one of Nottingham’s largest landlords for housing benefit tenants over the past 28 years, hit back at Mr Darling’s claims and points out many low-income tenants would simply not be able to buy a house if the landlords sell up.
Mr Roberts told Property118: “The Renters’ Reform Coalition have no clue whatsoever.
“Who buys the property? If a live-in buyer doesn’t buy it, which is happening to some of mine, where we’ve had to ask tenants to leave because they’re not paying enough rent to satisfy the new landlady, then a new landlady buys it who does not house the same people we have been housing. New landlords only choose top-class, better tenants. “Universal Credit (UC) lower-earning tenants don’t get a look-in. Is Tom Darling forgetting about UC tenants who cannot buy houses?”
He warned that when landlords who have previously accommodated less-favoured tenants sell their properties, those tenants often struggle to find anywhere else to live.
“Landlords who have put up with less favourable tenants, new landlords don’t have to. They don’t take them to start with. The less-than-perfect tenant loses out when the landlord sells.”
Mr Roberts also questioned Mr Darling’s claim that councils would step in to purchase such homes.
He added: “The council almost certainly aren’t buying in Nottingham, and when they did, they wanted the place empty. You had to evict the tenant, who then loses their home, only for the council to go and house a different homeless tenant.”
Now a homelessness crisis in Scotland
Meanwhile, Timothy Douglas, head of policy and campaigns at Propertymark, also spoke at the panel debate, using Scotland as an example of the consequences of what happens when a government over-regulates the rental market and hit back at Mr Darling’s comments.
He explains: “In Scotland there’s high taxes, 8% if you want to buy a buy-to-let property under Land and Buildings Transaction Tax. There’s also restrictive legislation where the Scottish government have removed fixed-term tenancies and replaced them with periodic ones.
“What does that mean? There’s now a homelessness crisis, particularly in the student rental sector in many Scottish cities. Students simply can’t access the properties they need.”
He added that such measures have resulted in higher rents, leading the government to introduce rent controls, which have had unintended consequences.
“What has that led to? High rents, and what does that mean? Rent controls, because the government think that’s the solution.
“But in order to temper rent controls, the Scottish government are exempting build-to-rent developments, which of course we need, but the rents in those properties are higher.”
Mr Douglas also pointed out that nearly three-quarters of individual landlords in Scotland (70%) own only one property, emphasising the debate shouldn’t be framed as landlords versus tenants.
He said: “We’ve got to move away from this ‘us versus them’ attitude. We need a healthy mix in the housing market, and we need a clear vision and strategy from our policymakers.”
You can watch the full debate at the Conservative Party Conference below
Tags:
Conservative Party Conference, housing crisis, housing emergency Scotland, Landlords Selling, renters reform coalition
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Member Since June 2013 - Comments: 3248 - Articles: 81
10:34 AM, 10th October 2025, About 7 months ago
Good article 118
Member Since January 2016 - Comments: 67
11:33 AM, 10th October 2025, About 7 months ago
Clueless egomaniacs like Tom Darling don’t really get it. His arguments are pathetic and weak. His really issue is clearly that of deep socialist ideology rather than a desire to improve the PRS. Govts need to learn and understand that over-regulation and taxation do far more damage than they’d like to accept or know.
Member Since March 2024 - Comments: 281
1:07 PM, 10th October 2025, About 6 months ago
If Tom Darling was specifically addressing a female with his explanation that there was no dynamite involved and the bricks don’t disappear into the ground he would clearly be guilty of ‘Mansplaining’. Doesn’t make him any more credible that he thinks a mixed audience needs his stupid and unnecessary explanation when it is him failing to grasp the relevant point;
Those able to buy won’t be the same people affected by the removal of that home from the rental market. A former tenant buying will likely be someone who has been able to get a deposit together, progressed along the earnings path and, critically, be at a point in life where buying is the right thing for them.
Meanwhile the person who is missing out on being able to rent that home will likely be younger, on lower earnings and at a stage in life where they probably wouldn’t want to commit to buying even if they had the means.
Not much different to the great council house sell off – great for those with a good few years of being the tenant behind them in situ in a property – not great for those who aspire to become a council tenant as there is a huge shortfall in properties.
Darling should stop patronising his audience and brush up on his reasoning – he’d get laughed at in a half decent sixth form debating society – him and his ilk are condemning the first step would be renters to life in a bedsit if they actually do manage to leave their childhood bedrooms.
Member Since March 2018 - Comments: 182
1:22 PM, 10th October 2025, About 6 months ago
House prices are about to collapse if Reeves bashes the middle classes with higher taxes.They won’t have any money to buy properties being sold by landlords. This puts Corporate Landlords in prime position to dictate prices, so they’ll collapse, with no advantage for private buyers or renters hit by higher affordability tests due to tax rises, therefore less disposable income. Corporate landlords will love it.
Member Since July 2023 - Comments: 15
10:19 AM, 11th October 2025, About 6 months ago
Private Rented Sector: Landlord Exit Data Pack (2024–25)
Introduction
This briefing summarises key evidence on the trend of small landlords exiting or reducing their portfolios in the UK’s Private Rented Sector (PRS). The data draws from official surveys and industry reports, including the English Private Landlord Survey 2024, Savills, NRLA, RICS, and ONS datasets.
Over the past six years, the PRS has undergone significant change. Rising interest rates, increasing regulation, and changes to taxation have created pressure on smaller landlords, many of whom entered the sector as long-term savers rather than professional investors.
Figure 1. Rising Intentions of Landlords to Exit or Downsize (2018–2024)
2018 Planning to Reduce Portfolio 16% Planning to Sell All Properties 8%
2021 Planning to Reduce Portfolio 22% Planning to Sell All Properties 10%
2024 Planning to Reduce Portfolio 31% Planning to Sell All Properties 16%
These figures illustrate a clear and accelerating rise in the number of landlords planning to reduce or sell their holdings since 2018.
Figure 2. Net Rental Market Transactions (2024)
Indicator % of Market Transactions (2024)
Landlords Selling 26%
Landlords Buying 8%
For every one property purchased by a landlord in 2024, roughly five were sold (Savills). This trend represents a significant withdrawal of private capital from the rental market.
Key Findings
31% of landlords plan to reduce their portfolios in 2024, up from 16% in 2018.
16% of landlords plan to sell all properties — double the 2018 figure.
For every one property bought, around five were sold by landlords in 2024 (Savills).
RICS data shows reduced rental listings and tightening supply across most UK regions.
Smaller landlords face rising costs from energy efficiency requirements, mortgage rates, and tax changes (including Section 24).
Implications
Reduced PRS supply is likely to push rents higher in the short term.
Tenants on lower incomes face greater competition for available homes.
The PRS may become increasingly dominated by large institutional landlords, who are less locally accountable.
The traditional personal relationships between landlords and tenants — built on trust, flexibility, and local connection — risk disappearing.
Conclusion
The evidence points to a significant rebalancing of the PRS. While the sector may not shrink in total dwellings, its composition is shifting rapidly. Policymakers should consider transitional protections for tenants and fairer tax and regulatory treatment for responsible small landlords to maintain diversity and stability in the market.
Without action, the exit of smaller landlords will lead to a less personal, more corporatised rental market — with higher rents and fewer choices for tenants.
Sources
English Private Landlord Survey 2024 — Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC).
Savills Research: Buy-to-Let and PRS Market Update, Q2 2024.
National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA) Quarterly Landlord Survey, 2024.
Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) Residential Market Survey, June 2024.
Office for National Statistics (ONS) Private Rental Index, 2024.
Bank of England Financial Stability Report, July 2024.
Member Since March 2023 - Comments: 1506
8:53 AM, 13th October 2025, About 6 months ago
Its not a bad thing for the landlord – just sold another one .. 13 gone 5 to go