Aug

Periodic tenancies will make housing crisis worse, expert tells national radio show

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A homelessness expert has warned that switching to periodic tenancies under proposed renter reforms could lead to a worsening housing crisis.

Benjamin Howarth (main picture), founder of emergency accommodation provider the Howarth Housing Group, believes similar harm has already been done in Scotland after short assured tenancies were discontinued in favour of private residential tenancies in 2017.

Speaking on Shelagh Fogarty’s LBC show, he said the cost of renting in Glasgow had gone up by 38% between 2010-2019 – largely due to a change in the law. “There wasn’t enough effort put into strengthening the private rented sector, so it introduced more risk to landlords, less people were then becoming landlords, the number of tenancies dropped, and it increased rental prices,” he said. “The same thing will happen in England when the Section 21 ban takes effect.”

Howarth warned that the PRS needs to be protected, otherwise landlords will quit the sector which, along with councils building insufficient housing, would exacerbate the housing crisis.

“More restrictions and licensing that costs a lot of money is supposed to be a good thing but it’s often badly implemented,” he added. “You can’t blame individual landlords – they’re not able to have the return on their investment.”

Forced eviction

One landlord who called into the programme – Adam in Hartford – told of how existing pressures were forcing him to evict his tenant. He said: “Due to rising interest rates and the tax breaks which have been continuously eroded over the years, I’m going to have to make my tenant homeless which breaks my heart, she’s a single mother. I’m forced into a corner – I can no longer afford to rent it out.”

Howarth said one solution would be to make the PRS more desirable for tenants and increase the number of properties. “If you have your pick of property you can negotiate, instead of the current situation where you’re fighting with other people to live there.”

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