NRLA Wales campaigning update
NRLA Wales Operations Manager Steven Bletsoe explains more about the NRLA's latest research findings and the positive campaigns work the association is doing to bring about positive change.
Latest research carried out on behalf of the NRLA shows confidence levels in the PRS in Wales are at an all-time low. This is not just an all-time low for Wales, but an all-time low for any nation and/or region of the United Kingdom.
This is a stark statistic, and maybe unsurprising, as landlords in Wales have not only faced the financial challenges engulfing the rest of the UK, but also the introduction of major legislation changes as Renting Homes (Wales) was brought in, and now the threat of rent controls.
Yes, such surveys can only ever be a snapshot of any sector, but despite average yields being highest in Wales at 5.8%, against an average of 5.2% across the UK, in the second quarter of 2023 a total of14% of landlords sold properties, with no landlords investing in new homes to let.
This means that Wales had the highest net loss of PRS properties anywhere in the UK, the next highest being the North West of England with 11%. This is a very worrying situation and the question has to be why, when the yields remain relatively good.
The importance of the Welsh PRS is clear, with the report showing that 35% of properties owned by those who responded to the survey are in receipt of housing benefit, offering vital support to the failing social housing sector
So, what do we do next?
We at the NRLA take our position as your representative extremely seriously. We are the landlords' voice in Wales, and we use that voice loudly, wisely and productively. We continue working with officials in the Welsh Government to make constructive responses on the Fair Rent & a Right to Adequate Housing consultation, with our formal response to be submitted shortly.
Our view is clear, any form of rent control is detrimental to the PRS as whole and doesn’t create the outcome that politicians who support the concept state they want to achieve.
On this point we again encourage you to make your voice heard to reinforce our representations and to do so, using our support toolkit here.
We also continue to hold meetings with officials and MSs to follow up our calls made in our “State of the PRS in Wales” report and we welcome the positive responses received from across the political spectrum to the release.
There are meetings now scheduled to see how we make those calls a reality and how those charged with creating a better PRS do so with the opinions of the service provider at the centre of any alterations to legislation.
There has never been a more important time to be a member of the largest membership representative body for landlords. We all need to work together to create the progressive and sustainable private rented sector that is needed in Wales.
The last few years have been a bumpy ride for landlords due to political decisions imposed on them, and political leaders now need to listen to us all to level the playing field.