Rental sector reaction to Gov reform white paper

Eddie Hooker, CEO of the Hamilton Fraser Group, who operate industry schemes such as Total Landlord Insurance, the Property Redress Scheme and Client Money Protect says:

“Having waited three years for this White Paper, we had a good idea of what the rental reforms would look like, and I welcome the Government’s intention to improve the private rented sector to make it more robust and fairer for both landlords and tenants for the long-term.

A more effective legal framework will ultimately help to create a more stable market for landlords to invest in. These proposals confirm the direction of travel, but the devil will be in the detail of the legislation.

Giving more power to the tenant, for example by restricting the rights of landlords to determine when a tenant should actually have to vacate at the end of a tenancy and to force landlords to accept renters that are on benefits, no matter how temporary, could send a signal that investing in the private rental sector is an uncertain and undesirable endeavour.

It’s vital that the eventual legislation doesn’t deter landlords from the sector as this will cause more landlords to exit, exacerbating an existing shortage of rental homes and driving up rents at a time when interest rates are rising faster than they have done in decades, and when people can least afford it.

Whilst landlords are frequently portrayed as fat-cat institutions that have no regard for tenants, the truth is that most are decent people with just one or two investment homes which form part or all of their income or retirement plans and to continue to squeeze them would be counter-productive.”