The Renters’ Rights Bill has not yet resulted in the max exodus of landlords that many feared it would, Lomond reveals.
The data shows that the number of tenanted properties being listed on the sales market has fallen by nearly 20% since the end of June.
The data reveals there were 10,041 properties with tenants still in situ were listed on Great Britain’s housing market in September this year.
This represents 19.2% fewer than the 12,423 properties listed in June this year.
Lomond says this suggests that in the weeks and months immediately following the Renters’ Rights Bill’s first reading under the new Labour government, the number of landlords looking to sell their properties in such a rush as to not even wait until the end of their current tenancy has declined.
The company explains that this goes “directly against the narrative from those who fear the bill will result in fuelling a mass exodus of landlords from the buy-to-let (BTL) sector”.
In the West Midlands there are currently 600 properties with tenants in situ listed on the market, a reduction of 54.7% compared to June’s number of 1,324 properties.
In the East of England the number is down by 50.8% since June while in the North East it has reduced by 19.8%.
Lomond chief executive officer Ed Phillips says: “Much has been made about the exodus of landlords from the BTL sector and with Labour quick out of the gates to propose yet more pro-tenant legislative changes, there had been worries that more landlords would have made a swift exit.”
“But, since the relaunch of the Renters’ Rights Bill under our new Labour government in late May, we’re yet to see any evidence of this and, in fact, the number of homes listed across the market for sale with a tenant in situ has actually fallen.”
“However, the real test will be the impending Autumn Budget at the end of this month, as we could yet see more changes that impact the financial returns of BTL investors, with Capital Gains Tax looking the most likely shake up on the cards.”
Today, the Renters’ Rights Bill will get a second reading in parliament.
Its measures include banning Section 21 no-fault evictions, limiting rent increases to once a year and applying the Decent Homes Standard to the private rented sector for the first time.
The Labour Party election manifesto in the summer pledged to end no-fault evictions “immediately” if it formed a government.
Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner says: “I am determined to get this Bill in to law as soon as possible.
“The thousands of children and families living in unsafe housing or under the cruel threat of a Section 21 eviction notice have been waiting far too long already.”
The previous Conservative administration had steered a similar Renter’s Reform Bill through the House of Commons, but was opposed by backbench Tory MPs who were concerned about the ability of landlords to remove anti-social renters and tenants in debt from their properties through the courts.
That Bill ran out of time when the last parliament was dissolved at the end of May.
