A quarter of Oxford buy to let landlords to quit?

According to a survey of 1,000 buy to let investors by the Residential Landlords’ Association (RLA), around a quarter are saying they will quit the private rental sector because of tas changes planned for April.

The planned restrictions on claiming mortgage interest relief as a cost of business which will be introduced from April 2017 is undermining the financial viability of buy to let investments.

Regular readers will know that I have identified that Oxford requires some 6,800 new homes in the private rented sector over the next 9 years, and that the Government’s raid on buy to let landlord’s risks a period of great disruption for tenants if landlord’s turn to short-term holiday lets as an alternative, or if they sell their properties to owner-occupiers who can afford them. 

The impact could be a reduction in the supply of private rented properties in Oxford at the very time a further 6,800 are needed.  That could mean nearly 18,000 people being unable to live in Oxford the UK’s 8^th fastest growing City!

For how long can the Government focus solely on the availability of homes for owner-occupiers to purchase rather than all facets of supply – social housing, private rented homes and owner-occupied homes.  Each aspect of the housing mix needs developing, and undermining any one could have severe and unexpected consequences.