So for example it says that Scotland, which banned no fault evictions in 2017, has not seen a significant drop off in rental supply, and instead has seen the number of households in the private rented sector increase. And in Australia the introduction of greater regulation of tenancies, and protections for renters, has not had an impact on total supply levels.
The SMF does not give any other international examples of such eviction bans.
But it adds that outside England, longer tenancies are much more common, and Scotland and the Republic of Ireland have both adopted indefinite tenancies.
“In Ireland, the policy does not seem to have affected housing supply, despite the warnings of landlords: since the initial legislation was passed in 2004, the private rented sector has doubled in size” it says. .
The paper also looks at the controversial issue of rent controls, introduced by the Scottish Government amidst the cost of living crisis, and favoured by London Labour Mayor Sadiq Khan, but opposed by the Labour Party nationally.
The SMF claims rent controls are “widespread across Europe, and have more mixed results than the textbooks would suggest.”
It says rent price regulations – ranging from rent freezes to simply limiting increases on existing tenancies – generally reduce costs for tenants already in housing, but the effect on the availability of properties varies by context.
So for example in Berlin where there is a rent freeze, and San Francisco, where rents are capped at 60% of the rate of inflation, there has been a shortage of properties.
But the SMF insists there has been no impact on supply in the Republic of Ireland, where there are ‘rent pressure zones’, have not had a demonstrable negative effect on supply – although the think tank admits that on this “more research is needed.”
As well as abolishing no fault evictions and moving to rolling tenancies, the SMF recommends strengthening the rent dispute system to make it easier to use.
Whereas in England, depending on the complaint, responsibility may lie with the housing ombudsman, local authorities or courts, it’s different elsewhere: in Australia, New Zealand, Ireland and many Canadian provinces there are ‘lead agencies’ that are a first port of call.
Additionally, the think tanks recommends licensing and registering landlords, as is the case in the rest of the UK and Ireland – or creating a non-compliance register, as in Victoria, Australia.
Niamh O Regan of the SMF comments: “English renters get a bad deal, certainly compared to their counterparts in other countries. Fixed term tenancies are too short, and no-fault evictions make periodic tenancies too risky. What’s more, cash-strapped councils and fragmented dispute resolution services are unable to consistently guarantee minimum standards, allowing bad landlords to continue to operate. Longer tenancies and stronger protections for tenants would alleviate some of the pressures they face and make long term renting a more attractive proposition – which it needs to be, given many of us are likely to be renting for much longer in future.”
Want to comment on this story? Our focus is on providing a platform for you to share your insights and views and we welcome contributions.
If any post is considered to victimise, harass, degrade or intimidate an individual or group of individuals, then the post may be deleted and the individual immediately banned from posting in future.
Please help us by reporting comments you consider to be unduly offensive so we can review and take action if necessary. Thank you.
.jpg)
%20(002).png)
.png)
Join the conversation
Jump to latest comment and add your reply
The SMF fail to look at the historical data in the UK which shows the lack of availability of flats to rent before Section 21. The more landlords are regulated, the worse the deal tenants get.
Ellie, what these clowns fail to realise is that 160k less landlords since 2017-2022 with an average of 4 per property is nearly 3/4m displaced.
I shudder to think what the number is since 2022 but would probably guess it has doubled. Do they think it is a coincidence that the average demand for a property has gone from 3 to 11 in the last two years?? Like most politicians researching the wrong points and not getting to the root cause of the issue.
Great points Peter. The situation will get worse for everyone as the next general election approaches, too. And how many landlords with empty properties already because of the fear of losing control of them?
They miss the point that letting property is a very burdensome investment anyway - even with light regulation. Many landlords only continue because of the complications from a tax perspective of selling - capital gains tax and inheritance tax etc. Once control of the property is lost - and tenants possibly obtain the right to buy at a discount, then there is no tax incentive to continue at all.
Well Peter I have a 2 bed terraced going on the market to rent next week, will be interesting to see how many viewings I get, and the rent has increased
Another waste of space think tank dreaming up ideas of what to do with OTHER PEOPLES’ PROPERTY…. Buzz off!
So “ there has been no impact on supply in the Republic of Ireland,”. Seriously??? Who are these deluded clowns?🤣🤣
Excerpt from Irish Times:
Government measures to control rents have backfired and in many cases have led to an increase in rents, a new report has claimed.
The study by economist Jim Power suggests that rent pressure zones (RPZs), introduced in 2016 to limit rent price increases, have resulted in significant "rent rigidities" and an inefficient two-tier system where the proper maintenance of rental properties is no longer economically viable.
This has prompted many smaller landlords to exit the market and to be replaced by institutional landlords with new stock at higher rents.
A long-standing complaint against the RPZ system is that new rental properties or tenancies are excluded from the restrictions and can be put on the market at any rent. “The real losers are tenants at the lower end of the market,” Mr Power said.
They don’t get it banging on about no fault evictions it’s not an eviction when it’s end of Contract.
The Assured Shorthold Tenancy could be anything from 6 months up to 7 years or various periods of length in between by mutual agreement at the start what was wrong with that they were able to Rent for the period of time they wanted.
Section 21 was only used when the Tenant was in breach and didn’t vacate as per Contract, what other way could it be you can’t physically go in and throw them out.
Anyway if they took it for say 6 or 12 months and wanted to renew the Contract it was usually an option which I done for years. Simply do another Contract that was before the lazy slippery slope of Periodic was introduced now the Chicken are coming home to roost.
So section 21 is not an Eviction when you are out of Contract and you have no right to be in the Property.
Another ideogical and politically based lefty student "Wolfie Smith " power to the tenants intern study. Nothing to see here. Move along.
They all use 2004 as a baseline, including our devious politicians. That needs to be reset to 2015 when Osborne's war on landlords began. Very different set of numbers.
"Lies, dam lies, and statistics"
BTL Repossessions have gone up 56% and here with have another expert speaking up for LLs.
Another one of mine on the market this week.
Think tank 🤔 they say 😂 I beg to differ. It’s irrelevant if certain landlords can pay more in terms of regulation, the important thing which separates us from our tenants is that WE have a choice 🤷♂️. A large number are deciding to call it a day and keep the cash 💰. They are in for a shock with the RRB 🆘🆘
Agree a big shock we are being replaced with new Corporate landlords, have a look on-line modular built high rise, Greenford Quay’s, UB6…. To Let.
Well, l have news for the Think Tank ...they are 100% WRONG. Landlords are already exiting en masse for a number of reasons (from section24, RRB & inevitable scrapping of Section21, ever more punitive costs, legs regs etc).
Landlords are not compelled to rent out; sopush them too far they sell up & leave, taking their money else where- dumping the homeless Tenant on the bankrupt Councils to "house".
"Think" Tank 🤣🤣
Think Tank, the number of PRS properties on offer is already tanking, why do you think that is? Could it be too much regulation, too much taxations and too much risk for LL's?
But can tenants afford all this because they'll be the ones paying for it
If Scottish tenants aren't finding it harder to find decent properties to rent, why were they only too willing to pay 75% more rent in June 2023 than they were in June 2017, before the SNP's disastrous PRS legislation came into force?
Why were over 900 groups of students still scrabbling to rent the last available student flat last September?
Why have I never experienced any void since 2017?
How can the many properties in Edinburgh and St Andrews,now only available as short term rentals, which used to be let to students from September to May, not be contributing to a shortage of long-term rental properties?
How can students renting homes no longer available for families not be causing a shortage of housing for families?
PS. Don't mention 3/4 million immigrants per annum putting extra pressure on the rental market.
This is laughable from Niamh o Regan. I rent property in west London and in Ireland (Cork). Yes we are regulated. No fault evictions banned but you can sell. That's what is happening here now. The government have now resorted to giving me a tax incentive to remain for the next 5 years in the form of an increasing tax credit by year 5. Things are desperate here... Last time I rented a room in a house , within days I had 320 applicants.
Landlords are running for the hills, PM has just stepped down and like UK we are staring at possibly a left leaning government led by Sinn Fein, god help us. All this started when we had a section 24 equivalent during the recession when as in the UK now repossessions started. Landlords are selling up in droves here. I unloaded 4 properties myself in the last few years in Ireland. Most of my tenants in London stay long term, averaging over 5 years.
Thanks for confirming the truth about Irelands housing crisis. The authors the SMF are so obviously lying or ‘manipulating the truth’ beyond any credibility.
Deluded lefties, hell bent on wrecking society, they have no genuine interest in housing.
This is yet ANOTHER DAMN CHARITY! 😡It would appear charities are the only growth industry these days. Everything else is sold to foreign investors who asset strip and shut them down.
I looked on their website, talk about gobbledygook! 😠 As for Niamh, another who has never had a real job, nor contribute in any meaningful way to society.
These charities really need challenging, they have become ‘fronts’ for ‘political engineering’ and politicians are too gullible to see it. Perhaps China is meddling with them!
Leave the PRS alone! Start having a go at the Corporates who are afforded a different set of rules.
The problem with “Think Tanks” is that they don’t. 😠
We need to have some WORK tanks or DO tanks!
The reason they haven't gone down in Scotland is that rents haven't really been capped. The cap for the length of the bill is 3%. The annualised average rent increase for the equivalent period of time before the bill was 2.7%. Given that rents and property prices broadly track inflation in real terms any cap OVER inflation as a target is effectively not a real or substantial cap.
As much as I'm sure it will surprise "social" people - investors perform mathematics and financial modelling before investing. If the numbers stop stacking up we'll do something else with our money and supply will drop drastically if prices can't then increase to adjust for risk.
It's odd to point out areas such as Berlin and SF where aggressive price controls have kneecapped supply and then suggest landlords can shoulder "much" tougher regulation.
Each think tank has its own areas of expertise. For example: The RAND in the United States has a strong background in the U.S. military; the Stiftung Neue Verantwortung in Germany is well-known in the field of emerging digital technology and policy. They had a report on challenges in the fields of artificial intelligence and diplomacy. What are SMF's areas of expertise?
Too many foundations and charities write the same articles which are simply a propensity to hate landlords. Think Tank should be capable to provide a very attractive topic, that is a cutting-edge, and no one dares to dispute its creditability, because they are specialised in what they say.
In this article, we did not see SMF's research expertise and the characteristics of the researchers which are very critical in claiming that they are a Think Tank.
Annoyed, you are right the place is infested with people hiding under the cloak of Charity Status.
Like our Water Company worse than useless, not capable of fixing a leak, get into billions in debt, then the Regulator gives them a big fine. Guess what no problem for them now raised out water
Bill 16%, I could see that coming a mile off so only the Customer is punished.
Tell em to explain this to all the lower earning tenants that can no longer secure accommodation and are in homeless hostels for months on end.
I have 3 guys in an F rated house, they enjoy a low rent and a roof over their heads, without my house they would be homeless
Please login to comment