- Considers figures on evictions and other statistics suggesting private landlords are exiting the residential housing market.
- Looks at the increased regulatory burden and costs of being a landlord, including the loss of mortgage interest as a deductable tax expense.
Figures released by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) last November show private landlord standard possession claims (non-accelerated) are now back to their pre-Covid baseline. By the end of last year, there are likely to have been more standard claims in 2023 than in 2019, the year before lockdown. What is really striking, however, is the rate of increase of accelerated claims—the route used for most section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions. In 2019, 19,042 accelerated claims were made; in 2022, 25,068; and in 2023, the stage appears to be set for approximately 30,000 accelerated claims. Already in the first three quarters of 2023, the MoJ recorded more accelerated claims than in the whole of 2019. The media swirls with rumours of a great exodus of landlords.
