Extreme regulation of the private rental sector is leading to a mass exodus of landlords in Hackney and fuelling the housing crisis.
The number of available rental homes has dropped by more than 55 per cent in the area in the past year as the Council’s attempts to improve the quality of private housing stock and the government’s expensive licensing and tax reforms hit landlords hard.
Vicky Bibiris, Managing Director of Location Location, said: “Landlords aren’t the enemy; they’re a vital part of the housing jigsaw. As an agency, we rent hundreds of homes every year and it’s incredibly rare to come across a place with poor maintenance or with problems such as damp – sadly the same can’t be said of social housing.
“We know the extra regulations introduced by Hackney Council are aimed at improving the quality of housing stock and we welcome that but the system locally is too punitive and too expensive and it’s leading to landlords selling up.
“We’ve never seen such a high volume of landlords leaving the market; it’s depressing. Most of these people are accidental landlords – they’re not big companies who skimp on quality. Many have seen their mortgage costs increase by as much as £500 per month – that combined with the changes to tax relief and licensing costs can make owning a rental property untenable.”
In 2018 The Council introduced mandatory licenses which cost between £500 and £1,000 and include minimum room sizes for properties operating as house shares. Often rooms are deemed too small to qualify so landlords are opting to rent homes that could house many people as a single dwelling instead.
Vicky suggests those looking to find a rental home register their details direct with as many estate agents as possible and build good relationships with them. She added: “When we advertise a property on Rightmove we have to field hundreds of calls and many people are left disappointed; it’s soul-destroying. So, we tend to show rental properties to people whose details we have on file.
“We are aware of landlords choosing to sidestep the regulations by quietly making their own arrangements with tenants – but with over 300 pieces of legislation, many of which can land you a hefty fine or even a prison sentence, that’s a risky thing to do!”
If you’re a landlord or renter and need advice on anything mentioned in the article, get in touch!
