'Immigration and too few landlords real reason for high rents'

Rising immigration is likely to push rental demand to new heights, a banking boss has warned.

Paragon’s chief executive Nigel Terrington (main image) believes there are already too few landlords, while 15 or 20 people vie for every available rented property - which is pushing up rents, he tells the PA news agency.

Terrington says the issue is “broad based”, with big UK cities such as London under strain as well as student towns. “The potential is that it gets worse from here because the UK population is expected to grow by another four million people by 2032, and it is largely going to come from immigration,” he adds.

Rent not buy

“Immigrants tend to come into the UK and will rent, rather than buy. So, it puts more pressure on the rental market and therefore we need greater levels of landlord formation, rather than keeping it stable.”

He believes landlords, like other UK businesses, need “certainty and clarity” following events such as Brexit, a new government, and interest rates being hiked.

Terrington also points to a wider shift from amateur landlords to professional landlords with more than five properties, which he says is “playing into our hands” because of the lender’s customer base.

Meanwhile, the banking boss has called on the government to give landlords enough time to plan for the Renters’ Rights Bill. He says it will be crucial to have an appropriate implementation period for reforms and for them to be communicated properly to both landlords and tenants.