The Big Issue magazine has not been short of articles criticising private landlords and demanding more regulation, tax and higher standards from the private rental sector.
It has in the past published letters with some sympathy for those providing housing, but has now published a more explicit letter from a landlord – Bryan Stevens – seeking to redress the balance.
Here is Stevens’ letter in full: it refers to the government’s Renters Rights Bill.
Before labelling landlords evil, criminal and money grabbing, you may want to look at the situation from their perspective, not just the tenants, not all of whom are angels.
Private landlords will only invest if the investment makes sense and is more profitable than other investments. We are not charities. We are selling our assets because successive governments have made it less and less worthwhile for landlords. The risks are too high. We have hundreds of regulations to comply with and associated high compliance costs. Individual landlords are taxed unfairly compared with corporate landlords. We face the risk of financial losses if a tenant decides not to pay the rent, or to wreck the property.
The latest bill is the final nail in the coffin. The pendulum has swung too far in favour of tenants. I will be selling my properties and putting my money in hassle-free funds, which are much less risk and much less administration.
It is a real shame that the only losers will be my tenants, most of whom have been with me for many years, and will now have to find other properties. I will tell my poor tenants, who have done nothing wrong, to blame successive governments and organisations that spew anti-landlords rhetoric.
You can see the same letter on the Big Issue website here: https://www.bigissue.com/life/letters/letters-landlords-exodus-tenants-renters-rights-bill/
This article is taken from Landlord Today