The upcoming Renters’ Rights Bill should encourage landlords to sell to one another, or to their tenants, according to tenant campaign group Generation Rent.
The group was responding to Rightmove research, which found that 18% of properties for sale were previously on the rental market.
The concern is this will diminish the stock of rental properties, causing rents to continue rising.
Dan Wilson Craw, deputy chief executive of Generation Rent, said “the government should encourage sales to the current tenants, which would be a win-win scenario, or to another landlord with the tenant staying put. If evictions must go ahead, tenants need more notice and financial support with the costs of moving.
Building more homes is the way to keep affordability in check, rather than focusing on the distribution of landlords and owner-occupiers. Looking at the bigger picture, homes moving from rental to sale opens doors for renters to become homeowners, which is a stated aim of the government.
Despite concerns about landlords’ threats to leave the market, this has to happen if the government wants to revive home ownership. The answer to affordability in renting is more homes, not more landlords, and providing homes people can afford to live in, in places they want to live, is the way out of this crisis.”
Labour’s tax hike rumours driving landlords to sell
Rumours of a capital gains tax hike, the proposed Renters’ Rights Bill and the abolition of Section 21 are sending landlords into a state of uncertainty.
Many landlords are openly questioning whether it is worth the trouble and are exploring their options.
It’s no surprise that hundreds of Property118 landlords have contacted Landlord Sales Agency rushing to sell.
Help landlords sell their properties
David Coughlin, the chief executive of Landlord Sales Agency, is a landlord himself so knows all the challenges landlords face in the current market. He stated “I’ve been a landlord for more than 20 years and currently have a portfolio of about 75 properties. I originally had about 150 properties, but like most other landlords over the last four years since Section 24 and other legislation, which has made it difficult to be a landlord, came in, I’ve been selling my properties.”
David set up Landlord Sales Agency with his business partner to help landlords sell their properties.
He said “Landlord Sales Agency is specifically geared up to help portfolio landlords like me and thousands of others buy and sell properties.”
Since it started, Landlord Sales Agency has built up a vast network of 30,000 buyers and investors who are willing to pay the best prices.
Labour government is final nail in the coffin for landlords
David warns with a new Labour government planning a tax raid, nothing is safe.
With rumours of a capital gains tax hike, this could be the final nail in the coffin for many landlords and many are now deciding to sell to avoid a potential increase.
David explains "there seems to be a change in landlord behaviour and that many are now fed up and want to sell quickly. There seems to be a swell of anxiety and desperation among landlords at the moment. A lot of landlords thought they’d got on top of Section 24 and interest rate increases, but now landlords are having to deal with the proposed Renters’ Rights Bill, with rumours swirling that it could prevent landlords from evicting tenants if the tenant is not paying rent, especially if it causes hardship for the tenant.
Then we have the rumours surrounding Labour and the supposed tax raid on capital gains tax and pensions. When landlords, including myself, wake up to news like this, many are saying ‘we’ve had enough’ and you then start looking at your portfolio and say what should I do?”
Landlord Sales Agency tries to help landlords and offer the best solutions for them.
David says “we have a lot of conversations with landlords who are in various situations like this with tenants in situ, smaller portfolios or larger portfolios, and they all come to us, and we can help offer various solutions. No matter your situation we always try to help.”
The future of the private rented sector looks uncertain, but David says more landlords will be thinking of selling.
He said “more landlords are looking at selling and there’s a landlord sentiment that looks like it is gathering pace for landlords wanting to exit. It just depends on what happens now with interest rates, and the Labour Budget in October and how will it impact people that own properties either outright or through a limited company. There’s a lot of things on the horizon that some landlords are still waiting to see what happens but, in the meantime, there’ are a lot of landlords looking at selling and getting out of the market as soon as possible.”
Sell portfolios fast and for a competitive price
Landlord Sales Agency has helped hundreds of Property118 landlords sell their portfolios quickly and for a competitive price.
David explains the process “Landlords generally come to us with a big portfolio with tenanted properties and they are looking for the best solution either to sell them in bulk or individually. We had one landlord called Shauna who had a portfolio of 23 properties that she had looked after really well, and all owned in a limited company. She wanted to sell the entire portfolio in one go. She didn’t want any valuations or viewings that might unsettle the tenants, so we found the right solution for her. We can help other landlords find the right solutions for them, too.”
David explains how another Property118 landlord was helped by Landlord Sales Agency.
He said “we helped another landlord called Darren who has a portfolio of 80 properties in Liverpool and he’s also a property developer, so he saw his rental portfolio as more hassle than it’s worth. He doesn’t want to sell them all at once and instead wants to maximise his gains from the properties, so we are helping him sell his properties individually. We’ve sold around 80% of his portfolio one by one to try and get the best price.”
Landlord Sales Agency offers a ‘Goldilocks level’
Some landlords may feel uneasy about investors not paying the full market price, but David explains that Landlord Sales Agency offers a “Goldilocks level” and many pay a fair and competitive price.
He explains “here at Landlord Sales Agency, we use a Goldilocks level where it is somewhere between an estate agent and an auctioneer price, around 80-85% of market value. Our goal is to achieve the best price by pitching landlords and first-time buyers against each other to secure the best possible deal. We’ll try and do a win-win deal with the tenant, landlord and the buyer so if we do get a good price, it might be from an owner-occupier, and we look to do a deal with the tenant to move out. Or we will get a landlord to buy and keep the tenant in situ.”
Selling landlord properties for good prices
For landlords still on the fence about using Landlord Sales Agency, David points out that there’s no cost to making an inquiry. If you decide you like what Landlord Sales Agency offers, you can move forward; if not, there’s no pressure and no commitment.
David said “I suggest that landlords reach out to us as I’m a landlord myself and I’ve been through everything other landlords have been through. To secure a great price, you need to resolve issues that estate agents and solicitors often lack the skills, expertise or drive to handle. I’ve built my business on overcoming those issues for other landlords. We are specialists in helping sell landlord-tenanted properties for good prices and helping them get over the line.”
Landlord confidence plummets amid fears over Labour’s housing policies
Four in five (79%) landlords don’t think the new government’s housing policies will improve the rental market, a poll from SpareRoom has revealed.
As of July 2024, only 19% of landlords said they were confident in the rental market versus 54% in December 2023.
Up until now, landlord confidence in the rental market has stayed relatively consistent since June 2021, with the past three years’ worth of survey data revealing a near 50/50 split between confidence and no confidence.
Matt Hutchinson, director of SpareRoom, said “there’s a stark contrast in landlord confidence in the rental market now compared to the last three years, and there seems to be little faith in the newly elected government when it comes to housing policy. Section 21, which is a valuable concession for landlords, is set to be abolished by our new government, with the Renters Reform Bill aiming also to ban the regulation which could perhaps be a reason for this dip in confidence. It will be very interesting to see if confidence grows based on key decisions government makes over the next year, which will naturally also reflect changes in rents across the country.”
Labour plans to launch a Renters’ Rights Bill, which should replace many of the measures contained in the scrapped Renters’ Reform Bill.
The bill should abolish Section 21 evictions; enable tenants to keep pets; introduce the Decent Homes Standard; require landlords to fix hazards faster; introduce a digital database of landlords, tenants and councils; launch a property ombudsman; introduce new anti-discriminatory measures; and give councils more enforcement powers.