Tenants Going To Extremes To Secure Property

Desperate renters are offering landlords years of rent in advance in order to secure a tenancy, according to Matt Lanninge, founder of The Property Expert.

In an interview on GB News, Lanninge told Isabel Webster and Martin Daubney that the market was “brutal” at present. “It’s pretty sad times out there at the moment where tenants are having to go above and beyond to try and secure a rental property,” he said.

“It’s pretty crazy, but certainly a sign of the times and sadly, something that a lot of property experts like myself have predicted was going to happen many years ago.”

According to Lanninge, supply and demand and taxation are key factors in driving the market to extremes. “Section 24 was introduced by George Osborne which rolled over a four-year period and had an impact on the tax implications for landlords,” he explained. This, he said, has resulted in “a real reduction” in private landlords who are prepared to let their properties.

“The UK market is underpinned by private landlords but a lot of them will tell you, they’re not making a fortune because of the tax implications,” Lanninge said. “I don’t think it’s a particularly good situation for either party at the moment.”

Asked about changes to tenants rights, Mr Lanninge told GB News: “Tenants rights have certainly increased a lot over the last few years, for the good in my opinion. I think that that’s important but equally I don’t think that Liz Truss’s suggestion of making tenants invincible effectively was a good suggestion.

“I think we also need to consider the fact that if someone owns an asset, they should have an element of control over that and be able to decide who potentially is going to live there and also whether they are able to evict someone quickly for for soft reasons, if you like, as opposed to simply only able to sell the property or more harsh reasons perhaps.”