A raft of mortgage brokers and financial experts have criticised the Government’s focus on the build-to-rent (BTR) sector and its policies which sezek to side-line traditional landlords.
Institutional investors such as Legal & General (main picture), Lloyds and John Lewis are increasingly moving into the PRS, while financial pressures and tougher regulation are squeezing out smaller landlords, it is reported – to the detriment of tenants on tighter budgets.
Graham Cox (pictured), founder of Self Employed Mortgage Hub, says the government favours institutionalisation of the PRS.
“The current administration is ideologically averse to building social housing at any great scale,” he explains. “They think the private rented sector can take up the slack.
“They absolutely envisage a future where big corporations will own most of the privately rented housing stock, house prices continue to soar, and the average Joe is priced out of owning their own home.”
More common
Imran Khan, co-founder of PropertyLoop, agrees that the UK property landscape is following European trends, where institutional landlords are more common.
“The pros are more professionalism, compliance and potentially a stable environment for tenants, he adds. “However, this doesn’t mean it’s an all-round win. Institutional landlords are more likely to focus on affluent areas, leaving a gap in affordable housing, a sector where individual landlords have played a crucial role.”
Joe Garner (pictured) MD of Joe Garner Consulting, is concerned that the government has been diligently reshaping the buy-to-let market ever since Section 24 of The Finance Act was introduced.
“The real agenda has now unfolded: a massive shift of private property into the hands of corporate giants and deep-pocketed investors,” says Garner.
The government is pushing homes into big corporate hands, side-lining everyday landlords, agrees Peter Stamford, director of Moor Mortgages, who says: “These big players chase profits, often ignoring affordable housing. We need both small and large landlords for a fair housing market. We need to challenge this before it’s too late.”
Read more: What does BTR mean for BTL?
