The National Residential Landlords Association has congratulated Labour on its landslide election win and has extended the hand of cooperation for the future.
Ben Beadle, chief executive of the association, issued a statement over the weekend saying: “We congratulate Labour on its election to office. The party’s manifesto committed to fundamental reforms to the private rented sector. This includes ending section 21, ‘no explanation’ repossessions.
“We stand ready to work constructively with the new government to ensure changes are fair and workable for tenants and responsible landlords and are sustainable for the years to come. It is vital however that reform does not make worse an already chronic shortage of rental properties to meet demand.”
A warning over the scale and pace of rental reform by the new government has come from lettings agency Knight Frank.
Tom Bill, head of residential research at the lettings and sales agency, says: “The risk for the lettings market is the introduction of policies that make it too financially punitive to become or remain a landlord, which could result in more owners selling up and higher rents.
“The Labour Party will revive the abandoned Renter’s Reform Bill in some form and had previously said it would end no-fault evictions on its first day in power. In an encouraging sign the party understands the picture is more nuanced, Angela Rayner recently told LBC: ‘That’s a simplistic way of looking at it.’
Knight Frank also insists that the courts system must be working before any change is made to eviction legislation.
Bill continues: “Labour has also pledged to end so-called bidding wars, a policy based on the assumption that high demand and low supply is a permanent feature of the lettings market. As we are currently seeing at the higher-value end of the London market, rising supply means asking rents are rarely met at the moment.
“Labour also appears to be adopting a more pragmatic approach to leasehold reform, rowing back on earlier plans to abolish the leasehold system in its first 100 days. How far and fast it goes will be dictated by how much of a priority the issue is.”
