How Buy To Let Sector Could Solve Housing Crisis

The chairman of the Residential Landlords’ Association has restated how he sees the private rental sector could help solve the country’s housing crisis. Alan Ward says George Osborne  put the blame for a fall in housing ownership levels on private landlords who, he claimed, bought properties that would otherwise be available for aspiring home owners. Alan believes landlords are more likely than owner-occupiers to buy properties which are often in a bad condition, to renovate them in areas not appealing to house buyers and that the core problem is not landlords nor the buy to let concept, but the overall shortage of homes. He says the government should drop the new levy on stamp duty for the purchase of homes to rent where a landlord is adding to the overall net supply of housing. Read more on the Letting Agent Today website.

Council May Ban Right To Buy Homes Being Let

A Labour-led council in London is attempting to become the first to bar social tenants that take up the right to buy from ever letting the property to private tenants. In a bid to crack down on poor housing conditions in former council houses Camden Council is consulting lawyers to try to find a way to make it illegal for tenants to buy their homes at a 75 per cent discount and then let them out. The ‘no buy to rent’ policy would exclude council properties bought using the £100,000 discounts from then being privately let. There are around 9,000 right to buy leaseholders in Camden - one third of whom are absent, many having bought the home to let out. Read more on Inside Housing.