Will Labour ever turn to PRS landlords to help them out?

It was comforting to read the words of Nigel Terrington, the chief executive of Paragon Bank, who recently highlighted a stark reality: we need more landlords!

He was talking about the UK’s population being projected to surge by 4 million by 2032 – has anyone voted for this? – and most newcomers, particularly immigrants, will rent rather than buy.

This is piling unprecedented pressure on an already strained rental market, pushing rents skyward and leaving tenants scrambling for scarce properties.

Yet, instead of nurturing the PRS, the government seems hell-bent on driving small landlords out of business.

Demand outstrips supply

Mr Terrington’s warning is clear, that demand for rental properties is outstripping supply, with 15 to 20 tenants vying for every available home in many areas, especially in student towns.

This isn’t just a statistic; it’s a crisis.

While Mr Terrington can see the problem AND a solution, it appears that the incompetent Labour government cannot see either.

The Renters’ Rights Bill and the proposed ludicrous Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) regulations are squeezing small landlords, many of whom are selling up rather than navigating a hostile buy to let landscape.

Who can blame them? Who wants the aggro?

EPC regulations for landlords

So, let’s talk about the EPC regulations. No-one is sure yet what they will consist of from next year, but we could see changes to the EPC calculation so that properties which are currently rated C, being downgraded to D.

That’s a massive blow beneath the waterline for landlords since it renders those homes unrentable unless landlords fork out thousands for heat pumps or solar panels.

The downside to small landlords leaving the PRS is that the market will be dominated by large portfolio landlords but eventually, I believe, they too will be squeezed out.

That will leave tenants at the mercy of corporate players or HMO landlords catering to those who can’t afford even a modest one-bedroom flat.

Poorly paid tenants, and those on benefits, are looking at a worrying future but they don’t seem to realise just how bad things are going to be.

I’m guessing that when the council hands them a tent, the penny might drop.

Thankfully, and just in time, Angela Rayner has this week legalised rough sleeping!

Sixth form politics

Labour’s apparent disdain for small landlords is baffling, and it looks like sixth form common room politics have survived the journey into Parliament.

They’ve ignored MPs, the House of Lords and the National Residential Landlords Association, all of whom have warned that strangling the PRS will only worsen the housing crisis.

Instead of encouraging investment in rental properties, policies seem designed to eradicate small players.

Higher rents mean higher profits, and higher profits mean more tax revenue – cynics (not me) might argue this is no accident.

But it’s not just about supply. The Renters’ Rights Bill, while protecting tenants, has shifted the balance so far that landlords face huge risks.

Non-paying or destructive tenants will be near-impossible to evict without costly court battles and bailiffs.

Decent tenants, who make up the majority, suffer as a result.

Labour appears to be ignoring the bigger picture: there’s a chronic shortage of homes, exacerbated by a failure to address mass immigration’s impact on housing demand.

Again, we should be grateful for Labour’s promise to build more social homes this week.

Those homes will mostly be for the people who are turning up in the country, not the ones whose taxes will be paying the bill.

It’s government failure

Some might argue that Mr Terrington’s call for more landlords misses the mark and that the real issue isn’t a lack of landlords – it’s a lack of properties.

Immigration, while a lightning rod, is only part of the equation.

We have decades of underinvestment in housing, coupled with a planning system that stifles development, which have left the UK woefully unprepared for population growth.

Calling for an end to mass immigration, as some suggest, might ease pressure temporarily, but it sidesteps the deeper structural failures.

We need bold action: streamlined planning, incentives for new builds, and a private rented sector that doesn’t punish small landlords for daring to invest.

The warning signs are there, and Mr Terrington’s plea for more landlords is a cry for common sense in a policy landscape that seems anything but sensible.

The housing crisis isn’t just a market failure – it’s a government failure. Landlords, tenants and the country deserve better.

Until next time,

The Landlord Crusader