Nearly half of the UK’s landlords are planning to hike rents in response to the upcoming Renters’ Rights Bill, research from Landbay has revealed.
Based on a sample of around 1,500 landlords, the mortgage platform found 44% are planning to increase rents with an average increase of 6% expected.
Of the landlords planning to increase rents, 89% will do so in the next 12 months.
The average rent increase of 6% will equate to a monthly average increase of £74, over and above the highest levels of inflation already faced by private renters (3.6%, according to the ONS).
Of those who are raising rents specifically because of the Renters’ Rights Bill, landlords with portfolios of between four and 10 properties are most likely to increase rents (32%), closely followed by those with between 16 and 30 properties (28%).
Properties in the South East are most likely to be impacted, followed by those in the North West.
Rob Stanton, sales and distribution director at Landbay (pictured above), said the findings reflected the “unintended consequences” of new regulation.
“By forcing the hand of landlords in this way, there is a real risk of worsening the cost-of-living crisis that so many private renters are currently facing,” said Rob.
“Any good and reasonable landlord will agree with protecting the rights of tenants, but they also believe that the rights of the property owner should be protected too.
“There’s no doubt we need to balance reform with support and safeguards for landlords to make sure that the rental market continues to play the important role it does in the UK’s housing mix.”
