Aug

Abolishing Section 21 will be a ‘disaster’ warns leading northern landlord

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Removing Section 21 will be a disaster – and the threat is causing good landlords to quit the sector, says one fed-up investor.

York-based landlord and developer, Matthew Laverack (inset, main pic), believes politicians should stop bashing landlords and make it easier, not more difficult, to provide housing.

While the cost of living may be extremely challenging, so is being a landlord during a time of high costs, onerous regulations and abundant financial risks.

Writing in the York Press, Laverack says Section 21 doesn’t allow landlords to give two months’ notice without reason and was introduced to give certainty to investors who otherwise wouldn’t be interested in private rentals.

“Removing Section 21 is a disaster,” he says. “Landlords make a living renting out homes. They make a loss when homes are empty and don’t give notice unless they have to, when a tenant doesn’t pay and/or behaves appallingly.”

Laverack has had some tenants for more than 20 years who started out with a six-month tenancy.

Throwing out

“We don’t invoke Section 21 because providing homes is our livelihood – throwing out good tenants isn’t what happens,” he adds.

“The housing crisis cannot be solved by rent controls. It is throwing petrol on a fire. It makes more landlords leave the market with few investors willing to replace them. Also, financial institutions will not fund an enterprise with rising costs and a fixed price cap.”

Alternative view: Why abolishing Section 21 isn't all bad news for landlords

Laverack, who has been in the rental and housebuilding sector for 40 years, has previously spoken out against government interference for deterring investors who would have helped meet the demand for housing but decided it was no longer worth the risk.

Read more about Section 21.

Pic credits: Getty/Matthew Laverack/Twitter

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