More must be done to keep private landlords in the rental sector, a new study has proposed.

New Open Property Group says the government should “reverse some of the punitive landlord measures it has introduced, starting by reinstating mortgage interest tax relief and they should strongly consider scrapping the additional stamp duty bill on second home purchases.” 

The group says that its new research shows England is facing both a significant homeless and housing crisis. 

In England, between January 2022 and March 2022, 74,230 households were found to be homeless, or threatened with becoming homeless. Out of the 74,230 households who were found to be homeless or threatened with homelessness, 25,610 of these were households with children.

Over a million households in England currently waiting for Social Housing and with Social housebuilding in England being at its lowest rate in decades, patterns are starting to emerge.

The group claims that since 1991, there has been an average annual net loss of 24,000 social homes. The government’s ambition is to build 300,000 new homes per year, with around half of these being built for Social housing. Despite this, only 216,000 new homes were supplied in 2020/21.

Open Property Group managing director Jason Harris-Cohen says: “The figures surrounding homelessness are more than worrying, especially as they do not reflect the immediate cost of living crisis. It really is a double-pronged attack, with a reduction in available social housing and a crisis in the private rental sector.”

Harris-Cohen adds that a recent survey by Cherry Plc found 28 per cent of landlords questioned are planning to sell their properties, with the potential for thousands of tenants to be made homeless. 

And he concludes: More must be done to keep current landlords in the private rental sector as a supply and demand imbalance creates havoc. When a mass of landlords sell up, it leads to higher rents, less choice and increased homelessness. The government should reverse some of the punitive landlord measures it has introduced, starting by reinstating mortgage interest tax relief and they should strongly consider scrapping the additional stamp duty bill on second home purchases.”