Labour casts gloom over rental sector

Labour has cast a shadow over the previously buoyant private rental sector with it's promise within 100 days of being elected of:

1. a rent cap on rental increases limiting them to no more than the rate of inflation
2. introducing a legal requirement for landlords to provide the tenant details of the rental levels charged to the previous tenant when re-letting a property
3. restricting tax relief for landlords who's property fall below 'basic' standards

Looks like it could be kick the landlord season.

To find out what the other political parties have in store for the rental sector

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Regional rents set against CPI

This graph only underlines what I was saying about Labour's proposed rent controls really need only be a London centric proposition.

Private rents by region versus general consumer price inflation. pic.twitter.com/ENxuL1leAq

— Matthew Sinclair (@mjhsinclair) April 30, 2015

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UKIP housing spokesman at number 10

UKIP’s housing spokesman, Andrew Charalambous is at number ten in a list of landlords receiving the most in housing benefit.

Charalambous received £826,395 in the last tax year.

Figures were released by councils following a Freedom of Information request by the GMB union.

Read more in the Independent on Britain's best paid housing benefit landlords

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Should you trade your pension for BTL?

Should you trade your pension for a buy-to-let? http://t.co/wsUIrkohcB

— Citywire Money (@CitywireMoney) April 30, 2015

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Labours rent controls pointless and costly

I don't see Labour's proposed rent controls as such a bad thing. In fact for me and the probably the majority of landlords they will have no impact whatsoever, other than maybe lock in tenants to 3 year tenancies that maybe they will live to regret ( a lot can change in three years ).

If there is a problem, it will be the cost and bureaucracy involved to implement something that will actually have very little impact on those in the private sector.

Most landlords outside of London and the South East are not ruthlessly raising rents, in fact quite the opposite, many rent index's have seen flat or in line with inflation increases for years.

To take further bluster away from Ed Milliband's proposal, the latest rental survey from LSL Property Services predict if anything, rent increases will be  slow even further. 

In the LSL survey, landlords anticipate that they will increase rent by just 1.7 per cent over the course of the next year. The current annual rise in this particular index is at 3.7 per cent (  hardly out of control).

What the media and left wing politicians try to ignore, is that most landlords just want to keep their tenants. It takes a long time for any rent increase to off-set the cost of reletting if it loses an existing tenant  ( rental voids, advertising costs, letting fees, time, hassle, re-decoration, council tax and utility costs ).

The LSL survey reflects this, with  proportion of landlords not expecting to raise rents in the next year increasing from 56 per cent in September to 60 per cent.

Once again, a London centric issue, ( rent rises reflecting astronomical price gains ) will be made a national issue.... oh, yes, and it polls well.

But saying that, the Independent puts forward why Ed Miliband's rent controls are a good idea.

It's your choice to decided what you think come Thursday 7th.

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Times column on rent controls

Rent controls won’t end our property madness - today's column by @EdConwaySky http://t.co/kL2DjiPqrG
— TimesBusiness (@TimesBusiness) April 28, 2015

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