“Incoherentâ€�, the Government’s approach to rental market says expert

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Renting Policy:

Perhaps not surprising with all that’s going on in Government that they’re eye is being taken off the ball with the rental market, but as it’s a crucial housing and election issue there’s really no excuse.

According to a former member of the Bank of England’s
Monetary Policy Committee, David Miles, the Government’s approach to the
private rented sector is “incoherent�

Mr Miles, now a Professor of Financial Economics at Imperial
College London, is arguing that “contrary to the Government’s stated aims,
there are ‘few signs’ that tax increases on the sector have benefited those
hoping to become homeowners. He argues that they are, meanwhile, left in a
rental sector with reduced choice and where rents are likely to be higher as
supply gradually shrinks.�

Since 2015 the Government has introduced measures to
restrict mortgage interest relief on the private rented sector to the basic
rate of income tax and imposed a stamp duty levy on the purchase of new homes
to rent out, says the Residential Landlords Association (RLA) in a press release.

In an exclusive article for the Residential Landlords
Association Professor Miles attacks the Government’s approach, which has sought
to cut investment in the rental market to support aspiring first-time buyers.
He argues that such buyers “are hardly helped by squeezing the supply of rental
property and driving rents up.�

He goes on to say that there is nothing “intrinsically wrong
with people being in the rented sector for an extended phase of their life. We
should want to avoid a situation where people feel pressurised into taking big
mortgages relative to their income early in life because the rental option is
so poor.�

Professor Miles goes on to conclude:

“In a world where house prices might be consistently higher
relative to incomes than in the past we might naturally expect the period in
which people are in the rented sector is longer. And there are good economic
reasons for believing that in a country with a rising population and where real
incomes tend to increase over time house prices might well rise at least as
fast as incomes. To have then introduced measures that reduce the supply of
rented property is perverse.�

David Smith, Policy Director for the Residential Landlords
Association, said:

“Professor Miles hits the nail on the head. Choking off the
supply of rental properties does nothing to help aspiring home first-time
buyers who need somewhere to live now.

“It is time to change tack and recognise that we need more
homes to rent as well as to buy in order to meet growing demand and have policies
that support investment.�

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