A student landlord is considering converting his properties into short-term holiday lets due to fears over the Renters’ Rights Bill.
Marcel Price, who lets out five student HMOs and two residential homes in Swansea via his company Eclipse Living with his partner had planned to grow their property business by buying a new property every one to two years, but that plan has now been abandoned, he tells the i newspaper.
Student housing is particularly under threat from the Bill, says Price, as fixed-term tenancies, usually aligned with the academic year, will no longer be allowed. Instead, tenants will be able to end their agreements with just two months’ notice.
“Ending fixed-term tenancies will completely destroy the market,” he explains. “If the Bill is passed, private landlords and those with smaller portfolios like me will be driven out of the market. Allowing tenants to give two months’ notice will be particularly damaging as it’s so much harder to re-let rooms around term times.”
His concerns have grown due to changes to stamp duty, court backlogs for evictions, risk of rent controls, and the mass introduction of purpose-built student accommodation, with at least seven large towers being built in Swansea in recent years.
This will be protected from ending fixed-term tenancies, adds Price. “It has become a two-tiered system geared at protecting large corporations.”
He believes the reforms could shrink the rental sector and drive up prices, with renters ultimately footing the bill. “It all feels very anti-landlord. The goalposts keep shifting and there is a constant continuous lobbying of the government by tenant rights groups.”
A Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government spokesperson says: “Good landlords have nothing to fear from our Bill, and there is no evidence of a landlord exodus since reform has been put on the table.”
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