What will the Election mean for Private Landlords?

 

As the General Election looms, we look at what it could mean for landlords in the Private Rental Sector …

Hopefully, the morning of 13 December will, at least, give us some clue as to what’s next. Will it be Brexit done or a hung parliament with more dithering for another year?

So, what could the election bring for the private landlord?

The main political parties have laid out their blueprints for government ahead of, what is likely to be, one of the most decisive general elections in recent years.  On the face of it, and I make no political statement here, it looks, according to the different polls, that the Conservatives will have a double-digit win, allowing a parliamentary majority.

Personally, I’m only watching Labour and Conserative as I do not believe the others will form a government at this election. Both of the main parties are playing a little football with the PRS; here are some of the manifesto proposals:

 

Labour are proposing two major changes that, I am sure, no Landlord wants to see:

1. Rent caps
2. Lifetime tenancies

These two policies alone take us back to the 50s and 60s with regulated tenancies act.

Another is the end of ‘no-fault evictions’ – Section 21. Of course, both parties are having a go at this. Whilst  we must all support sanctions of non-compliance and get rid of the 50s and 60s landlord mentality, as an agent who has been in this business for over 30 years, I can guarantee the vast majority of tenancies are ended, in the first place, by the tenants and, in the second, amicably.

The Conservatives seem hell-bent on abolishing the Section 21 process of non-fault evictions, despite a robust defence submitted by the National Landlords Association (NLA).

The new Lifetime Deposit Scheme will allow renters to transfer their deposit from one property to another instead of being left out of pocket for weeks while they wait to be reimbursed from their old landlord. However, renters must spend money securing their new property.

How this will work when the Landlord may have to depend on some, or all, of the deposit to recover non-payment or damage is anyone’s guess. Not a lot of thought gone into this proposal. To me, it’s clear they are more focused on the seven million tenancy votes than those of the two million or so Landlords.