24,000 households in England face homelessness within a year due to landlord rule

Landlords are selling up leaving 2,000 households a month in England facing homelessness. Four in 10 households seeking council help say it is because property is being sold, amid renting reform delays as the Cost of Living crisis continues.

A third of landlords plan to reduce their rental portfolios and only 9% say they likely to grow them, a survey by the National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA) found. “Landlords selling up is the single biggest challenge renters face,” said Ben Beadle, the NRLA chief executive.

“The only answer is to ensure responsible landlords have the confidence to stay in the market and sustain tenancies. We are calling on peers to support the bill to give the sector certainty about the future.”

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The campaign group Generation Rent accused the NRLA of trying to “hold parliament hostage to the idea that they will sell up over even the smallest strengthening of tenants’ rights”.

Ben Twomey, its chief executive, said: “Long term, if landlords sell up it makes little difference to the housing market. Bricks and mortar do not sink into the ground, and the home could be bought by another landlord, a first-time buyer or even repurposed for social housing … The short-term issue is that tenants have an appalling lack of protection when landlords choose to sell up.”

Polly Neate, the chief executive of Shelter, the housing charity, said: “Rental reforms are not driving homelessness, no-fault evictions are. Five years on from the government’s promise to ban no-fault evictions, renters continue to face homelessness in their thousands.

"With just two months’ notice and no need to give a reason, landlords can throw tenants’ lives into chaos at the drop of a hat. That’s why it’s essential that the renters reform bill is overhauled so tenants have a longer protected period from eviction after moving in and longer notice periods to help them find a new home if a landlord wants to sell or move into the property.”