Benefits of the PRS (Private Rental Sector) National Landords Association
On the 5th March as a member of the National Landlords Association, I attended a meeting with like minded Landlords to discuss the Benefits and the future of the PRS.
It was well attended at 1 Birdcage Walk walking distance from the Houses of Parliment and across the road from the HM Treasury.
We were greated with the description of what owners within the private rental sector’ portolio should resemble:
- Healthy
- Strong
- Stable
Chris presented some numbers based on peoples concerns with the idea that Landlords are raking in high rents – so it was interesting to hear, that based on analysis completed over a period of 4 years that the PRS had increased by 6.8% and the CPI (cost of living index) had incresed by 6.9%. So efffectively we are keeping our rents in line with inflation.
Owner buyer market remains challenging and since Mr Osborne introduced the new tax regime for the rental market, BTL has slumped by 18%. It was also interesting to hear that the PRS contributes a staggering £3.8 Billion to the exchequer – ouch! It was disappointing to hear that with the demise of the mortgage tax relief Landlords tax will increase by >2% in the next year.
Landlord Prosecutions – across London are not that high, despite what the media say. However, Newham appear to have increased their procecusions in the last couple of years by 60%. Would be good to understand the underying challenges they face and the framework for their decisions to procecute.
Tenancy terms – Effectively how long a tenancy agreement should last also came up as a topic. The analysis fromt the NLA states that 3.9 years is the average duration of a PRS rental and that 25% of PRS rentals last for more than 4 years.
A topic that is close to my heart is ratings. That is why I created this website to see how Landlords can rate tenants, landlords, agents/landlords etc. Its a complex mix. Richard feels that generally, people are more inclined to rate when something goes wrong as opposed to when something goes well. I believe we can have a platform where ratings are given when a tenant moves on their landlord and vise versa. Our coporate responsibility as landlords needs to embrace the ratings process. It will lay the groundwork for provision of a good reputation at all levels of the process, which can only be a good thing. Watch this space as to how we implement ways to advertise good landlords, agents and tenants.
Chris from Shelter kept repeating what does good look like for the PRS. As shelter are reliant on private landlords to house people who are considered to be at the bottom rung of the ladder in terms of affordability and with the issues that come with homelessess.
A show of hands was asked for as to whether there should be centralised licensing/registration with professional development for Landords. I am in favour of this as the local laws around HMO’s, Article 4, section this and that, can be challenging when you own property in different boroughs and in differnet cities. In short it was felt that if you become a Landlord, the role needs to be completed in a professional manner and there needs to be a cultural shift to understand exactly what this means. Becoming a Landlord today, is not easy. You need to think carefully about stepping into this space without doing your research and attending events put on by Associations like the NLA.
I enjoyed the evening, and unfortunately did not get a chance to mingle post the session as I had to leave. However.my takeaway, is that I am doing a great job. I’m concerned about the governments bomardment of the PRS with taxes and more tax. However, this will not deter me from remaining a Landlord.
Please continue to check out our site and provide your ratings.
