An increasingly stressed landlord community feel they are becoming a convenient scapegoat for many of the housing problems facing England and Wales.

The NRLA’s analysis of landlord comments around the portrayal of landlords in the media, by politicians and campaign groups highlights that there’s a sense of being unfairly perceived. Policy is combining with rhetoric in a way landlords find at best unfair and at worst, hostile.

The landlord body says although this itself doesn’t seem to be pushing landlords out of the sector, for many, escaping the toxicity is certainly one factor in the ‘debit column’ when deciding to leave or remain.

Conversations

The NRLA regularly asks landlords whether they plan to be a landlord at the end of the next calendar year. It found that conversations are the same whatever a landlord’s situation; it’s not the case that only those planning to leave the sector perceive an issue with their characterisation - landlords are equally aware and unhappy with how they’re portrayed irrespective of their intention to leave.

However, in volume terms, landlords planning to quit discuss this topic with greater relative frequency and consider the topic more important. And when the NRLA asks why their confidence is either up or down in any given quarter, they will often refer to the “media” and/or “politicians”.

It reports that while hostility towards landlords is not increasing per se, the findings show they are more frustrated and upset by the rhetoric now than they were this time last year.

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